Membership Trails Exhibits Volunteer Education History FAQs

The Nature
Discovery Center

18 Highlawn Rd
Warner, NH 03278
(603) 856-7893

Fossil Program: Hunting for fossils in sand

The Nature Discovery Center offers interactive, interdisciplinary, hands-on nature, science, history-related and environmental outreach programs for youth, families, homeschoolers, adults, and seniors on a limied basis.

Outreach Programs

These programs can be brought to your school, church, community center, private home, library, retirement community, or other location.  Depending upon the topic, programs are available for preschool age through senior citizens.  They are designed for 30 individuals or less (some can accommodate more) and are highly interactive.  Most offer hands-on activities; they can be tailor-made to your group.  These programs are presented by an experienced science teacher and museum director, Sandra W. Martin.

Click here for a list of programs we offer

Programs at The Hopkinton Town Library

When the Museum is closed for the season, it offers free educational nature programs which are held in the Community Room at the Hopkinton Town Library. These high quality programs are made possible through generous donations and museum memberships. Be sure to check the Museum's calendar for upcoming events.

Completed

Past museum-sponsored programs at The Hopkinton Town Library:

2003

March 22 – “Landscaping for Wildlife”, Marilyn Wyzga, NH Fish and Game Educator

May 1 – “Fun with Fossils”, Sandra W. Martin, Science Teacher Director, The Nature Discovery Center

2004

March 13 – “Wildlife Myth Conceptions” with Marilyn Wyzga, NH Fish and Game Educator

April 3 – “Super Soil: How to Have a Great Garden”,with Marie Shaffer, Master Gardener

2005 – 50th anniversary of the Museum

March 19 – “Life Under the Ice: NH Fish on Ice”,with Mark Beauchesne, Coordinator for NH Fish and Game’s Let’s Go Fishing Program

April 9 – “Whose Woods These Were; I Am Beginning to know….Social History of the Minks”, with Rebecca Courser, 25 yr. Veteran of the Warner Historical Society

May 7 – “Wonders of Wetlands”, featuring Lori Summer and Barbara Fales, staff from the NH Dept. of Environmental Services

July 9 – “A Year in the Life of a Turtle”,with David Carroll, nationally acclaimed artist, author, and naturalist

2006

February 4 – “Geology and Collapse of the Old Man of the Mountain”, with Leland Wilder, Adjunct Professor of Earth-Space Science at Colby-Sawyer College and Public Outreach Coordinator for the NH Geological Survey in the NH Dept. of Environmental Services.

April 1 – “Coats for Critters”, with Tim Carey, NH Fish and Game Volunteer

May 6 – “Discovering New England Stone Walls”, with Kevin Gardner, author of The Granite Kiss and producer for NH Public radio.

2007

February 10 – “The Energy-Climate Change Connection”, with Joanne Morin, Technical Services Administrator of the NH Department of Environmental Services, Air Resources Division

March 24 – “Super Stewards: How Early Native Americans Cared for the Earth”, a children’s and family program, Ruth Smith, Education and Volunteer Manager, Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum.

May 19 – “New Hampshire Common Loons: New Challenges for a Resilient Species", featured Harry Vogel, executive director, Loon Preservation Committee

2008

February 2 – “Earthquakes in New Hampshire (or why the earth moves under your feet)” , David R Wunsch, PhD, P.G State Geologist and Director of the NH Geological Survey, NH Department of Environmental Services.

March 29 - "Mount Washington Observatory ....bitter xold, dense fog, heavy snow; incredible weather", presented by Peter Crane, PhD, Director of Programs, Mt Washington Observatory.

April 19 - "Dig into the Past: The Mystery of the Sites....a children's archaeology program", with Sheila Charles, M.A., Historic and Archaeological Research Consultant and Strawbery Banke Archaeologist.

2009

February 7 - "Climate Change:  Moving from Hope to Action", with Patrick Miller, MPH, Research Associate Professor, School of Health and Human Services, UNH.

March 28 - "Wildlife Rehabilitation:  Saving New Hampshire's Injured and Orphaned Wildlife", with Cathie Gregg, Director of the Elaine Conners Center for Wildlife in Madison, NH. 

May 2 - "Wolves:  Beyond the Myths", with Myrtle Clapp who has worked at the Loki Clan Wolf Refuge in Conway, NH for almost 12 years, has studied wildlife behavior for about 40 yrs. and is a member of the Refuge's Board of Directors. 

2010

February 20 - "Vermiculture:  The Wonderful World of Worm Composting", with Joan O'Connor, of Joan's Famous Composting Worms.  Joan showed us how to create our own compost using red worms. 

April 10 - "What's So Great About Great Bay?" with Nathan Hazen, UNH marine docent, SeaTrek program.  Nathan highlighted the invaluable and unique habitats of Great Bay.

April 24 - "Ben Kilham on Bears", with Ben Kilham.  Ben, author, film maker and black bear behavior expert, showed us some of the results of his unique research on bear behavior.  

2011

February 19 - "Pastures of Plenty: The Future of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Conservation in New England", with Dr. John E. Carroll, professor of environmental conservation in the department of natural resources & the environment at UNH.

March 5 - "An Introduction to Green Buildings", with Paul Leveille, High Performance Building Coordinator at the Jordan Institute.

April 2 - "Wolf and Coyote in New England", with Chris Schadler, Wild Canid Ecologist.

2012

February 18 - Who Goes There? Identifying Animal Tracks and Signs with award-winning environmental educator, Ruth Smith.

March 3 - Art Trailworks, an environmental art program for grades 2-5 children with environmental art teacher, Cynthia Robinson.
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April 14 - Wings of the Night: Owls and Bats, with Education Director, NH Audubon Society, Kevin Wall.

June 9 - Speaking for Wildlife… NH’s Natural Communities and a Walk in the Woods two-part program begins with an illustrated presentation at the Community Room, Hopkinton Town Library by Barbara Fales, UNH Cooperative Extension Coverts Cooperator, Museum Board Member, and volunteer. On the trail, Town Forester Ron Klemarczyk, described the area’s history, local efforts that led to the trail’s creation, and the natural communities and special habitats along the trail.

2013

February 2 - Finding the First Granite Staters...with Richard Boisvert, State Archeologist

March 2 - Climate Change Impacts on New Hampshire ...with Martha Carlson, PhD candidate at the University of New Hampshire.

April 13 - Loon Magic: Sights & Sounds ...with Candace Morrison, experienced educator,

2014

February 1 - Restoration of the American Chestnut Tree ... with wildlife biologist Curt Lffin.

March 29 - More Than Giant Puddles .... with naturalist and award winning environmental educator, Ruth Smith.

April 12 - Ospreys ...with Dave Erler, Senior Naturalist, at the Squam Lakes Science Center.

May 16 - Exotic Aquatic Plants in the New Hampshire's River Systems.. with my Smagula - liminologist, exotic species cordinator, NHDES. Presentation at Mt Kearsarge Indian Museun, in Warner. 

October 4 - What is That? a River Botany Walk with Rudy Bourget, outdoor and survival skills expert. A walk along the river's edge to explore plants used by early natives and settlers.

2015

February 7  Wind Power and Wildlife: A New England Perspective with Carol Foss, PhD., Senior Advisor for Science and Policy, NH Audubon. Carol will  discuss, from a positive and negative perspective, the current state of knowledge about the impact of onshore and wind  energy and development on native wildlife.

March 28  Tracking Seasons and Climate Change in the Northern Appalachians with Georgia Murray, staff scientist with the Appalachian Mountain Club in NH.  Ms. Murray will present an overview of the long-term climate trends from the Mt. Washington area, as well as report on the AMC’s mountain phenology monitoring projects that includes citizen scientist opportunities.

April 11  The Bee’s Needs:  diversity and sustainability of native pollinators with Sandra Rehan, Assistant Professor, UNH, Dept. of Biological Sciences and Hubbard Center for Genome Studies. Dr. Rehan will share information on the native bees of NH and detailed information on their natural history, nesting biology, habitat preferences, floral  associations, and prospects for their status in the future.

Programs at The Nature Discovery Center

Beginning at the opening of the Museum's season through its closing, some outreach programs for small groups can be scheduled, at the Museum on weekdays. Small groups can also enjoy a trail walk, a museum visit, a fluorescent demonstation and/or a short nature videotape, as part of their visit.  Check the calendar for special programming announcements. Call the museum at 603-856-7893 to make an appointment. Check the FAQs page for more information.

Programs for Scouts and Youth

Sandra Martin, teacher and museum director, can help Scout groups and other organized groups with requirements for badges and also provide opportunities for community service projects.  The Museum can help Cub Scouts complete their geological badge requirements. Please call Sandra (603-856-7893) for more information. 

Programs are presented by Sandra W. Martin who has a B.S. in botany, a M.S. in zoology and is an experienced science teacher. She uses many of the Museum’s collections in her programs and brings over 50 years of teaching experience to her presentations.
          

Membership Trails Exhibits Volunteer Education History FAQs

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