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| Formation | 1958 |
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| Headquarters | Westport, Connecticut |
Executive Director | Tony McDowell |
| Website | earthplace |
Earthplace is a non-profit science education organization, in Westport, Connecticut, in the United States. [1] Its main focus is on the natural world and sustainability.
NaturePlace: A museum room that features interactive nature displays, hands-on activities and a video theater. Five wildlife dioramas depict Connecticut's animals and plants found in various seasons and ecosystems.
Animal Hall: Earthplace houses a collection of rescued wildlife that are exhibited as species ambassadors, including bald eagles, hawks, turkey vultures, a black vulture, several types of owls, a box and wood turtle, little brown bats, and more. Due to their injuries, these animals cannot be released back into the wild. Several domestic animals are used in public programs, including rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches.
Hiking Trails: Earthplace maintains a 62- acre (25 ha ) sanctuary, which is the largest open-space in Westport. Trails cross areas of wetlands, ponds, streams, hardwood forests and meadows. Sightings of rabbits, chipmunks, deer, box turtles, wild turkeys, bullfrogs, wood frogs and many birds are regularly made on the trails.
Event venue: In 2016, Earthplace created its 125-seat, open-air amphitheater. The site, as well as the adjacent 'event space', and the indoor auditorium are rentable spaces used for weddings, birthday parties, and more.
The Native Plants Courtyard was designed in 1960 by landscape architect Eloise Ray to highlight plants native to southwestern Connecticut. Species include bloodroot, trillium, jack-in-the-pulpit, wild ginger, Solomon's seal, yellow lady's slipper and prickly pear cactus.
A bronze statue of a mother bear and two cubs by animal sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington is placed near the entrance to two major trails.
Harbor Watch, located in Earthplace, is a water quality monitoring program. Staff scientists work with volunteers to take water samples from area streams and rivers, which are then analyzed in the center's state-certified laboratory. Harbor Watch also monitors the population of juvenile benthic fish in the Norwalk harbor.
The Mary Eason Swett wildlife rehabilitation program rescued hundred of local animals each year, with the goal of releasing each animal back into the wild. The program was discontinued in 2011.
Earthplace Preschool has been operating on the grounds since 1967 and is certified by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and licensed by the state of Connecticut. Earthplace operates an accredited summer camp program, and offers after-school nature education programs, a preschool, and scout group programs.
Earthplace was founded in 1958 as one of the many science and nature museums being developed around the US by groups led by naturalist John Ripley Forbes.
The Mid-Fairfield County Youth Museum opened in 1961. In 1973 the organization changed its name to the Nature Center for Environmental Activities. In 2002 the name was changed to Earthplace, The Nature Discovery Center. In 2007, the 22 acre Partrick Wetlands open space was donated to Earthplace.
Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is the only Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)–accredited zoo in the state of Connecticut. The zoo includes one of the few carousels in the state. The zoo has around 500 animals, from over 100 species, and welcomes about 280,000 visitors a year.
The Oakland Zoo is a zoo located in the Grass Valley neighborhood of Oakland, California, United States. Established on June 6, 1922, it is managed by the Conservation Society of California, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of wildlife both locally and globally. The zoo is home to more than 850 native and exotic animals and is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
Reelfoot Lake State Park is a state park in the northwest corner of Tennessee in the United States. It encompasses Reelfoot Lake and is situated in Lake and Obion counties. The park itself makes up 280 acres (1.1 km2), divided into ten sections around the lake. A major hunting and fishing preserve, it is part of a much larger wildlife refuge which comprises 25,000 acres (100 km2), 15,000 acres (61 km2) of which are water, and harbors almost every kind of shorebird, as well as the golden and American bald eagles. Other animals are also diverse and abundant. The many species of flowering and non-flowering plants attract botany enthusiasts from all over the country. Baldcypress dominates the margins of the lake, but many other trees and shrubs are also present.
ZooMontana is a 70-acre (28 ha) zoo located in Billings, Montana, U.S. and is Montana's only zoo and botanical park. The zoo currently maintains nearly 100 animals, representing 58 species. These animals all live in habitats designed to imitate their natural habitats. The zoo was incorporated and established as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in 1992. It focuses on year-round wildlife native to Montana, the Rocky Mountains, and other cold temperature regions at or above the 45th parallel. Indoor habitats include animals from around the world. The zoo hosts over 160,000 visitors per year.
The Roger Williams Park Zoo of Providence, Rhode Island, contains more than 800 animals in natural settings from a total of 160 species from around the world. In 1986, the zoo became the first zoo in New England to earn accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Founded in 1872, the zoo is the third oldest zoo in the nation. The zoo and the nearby Carousel Village are some of the main attractions of Roger Williams Park.
The Chattahoochee Nature Center is a private, non-profit environmental education facility in Roswell, Georgia. Located on 127 acres (0.51 km2) adjacent to the Chattahoochee River, the nature center focuses on educational outreach through the use of live flora and fauna. The mission of the Chattahoochee Nature Center is to connect people to nature.
Pioneers Park Nature Center, established in 1963, is a 668-acre (2.70 km2) nature preserve located within Pioneers Park, which is located at the intersections of South Coddington and West Van Dorn Streets in Lincoln, Nebraska. Both Pioneers Park and the Nature Center within it are operated by the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department.
The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, formerly known as the Virginia Marine Science Museum, is an aquarium and marine science museum located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, just south of Rudee Inlet. The exhibits at the museum are contained in over 800,000 US gallons (3,028,000 L) of fresh and saltwater displays.
The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center is a municipal nature preserve on the north-eastern corner of Austin, Minnesota, comprising more than 500 acres (200 ha) of restored and remnant prairie, hardwood forest, wetlands and meandering streams. Purchased with municipal, state, and private donations, the nature center is administered by the Austin municipal government through the Parks and Recreation Department. Named in honor of Jay Catherwood Hormel, the son of Hormel Foods Corporation founder George A. Hormel, his private estate forms the original land of the park.
John Ripley Forbes was an American naturalist and conservationist who helped found hundreds of nature museums for children in over 200 communities and thirty states. His museums were noted for their interactivity as children could often even borrow animals.
The Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield is a nature center and wildlife sanctuary in the Greenfield Hill area of Fairfield, Connecticut. Constructed in 1971, the center features classrooms for environmental education programs, live animals on display, natural history exhibits, a nature library, a solar greenhouse and a gift shop. Outside there is a compound with non-releasable rescued birds of prey, including owls, hawks, peregrine falcons, a turkey vulture and other raptors.
The Audubon Kern River Preserve is a riparian nature reserve owned by the National Audubon Society in the US state of California, near Weldon in Kern County.
The Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center is a multi-campus nature preserve and educational center in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The NWDC is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt corporation which includes a 611 acres (247 ha) mountain park, lodge, gift shop, and museum in Beulah, a small museum and educational center as well as an open-space park on the Arkansas River in Pueblo, and an adjacent raptor education and rehabilitation facility.
CuriOdyssey is a science museum and zoo containing animals and interactive science exhibits. CuriOdyssey is home to nearly 100 rescued animals, most native to California, that cannot survive in the wild. CuriOdyssey's exhibits include a science playground where kids play with scientific phenomena.
The Webb Mountain Discovery Zone is a 170 acre park and outdoor learning center in Monroe, Connecticut, United States. The adjacent 135 acre Webb Mountain Park connects up to a 13.5 mile trail network.
The Connecticut Audubon Society, founded in 1898 and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "conserving Connecticut’s environment through science-based education and advocacy focused on the state’s bird populations and habitats." Connecticut Audubon Society is independent of the National Audubon Society (NAS), just as in the neighboring state of Massachusetts, where Massachusetts Audubon Society is independent of the NAS.
The San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a series of wildlife refuges established by the United States National Wildlife Service beginning in 1972. The complex incorporates five refuges in San Diego County and Orange County in California.
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center, located in Stamford, Connecticut, is an art, history, nature, and agricultural sciences museum. The property covers 118 acres beginning about half a mile north of the Merritt Parkway. It was originally a private estate.
The Living Coast Discovery Center is an environmental education center with marine animal, animal and bird exhibits located in the Sweetwater Marsh Unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge in Chula Vista, California. Permanent displays at the Living Coast focus on native animals and plants found in Southern California and San Diego Bay.
A private 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1967, the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary is located in McKinney, Texas, United States. With a 289-acre wildlife sanctuary, five miles of hiking trails, about fifty acres of wetlands, a two-acre native plant garden, a butterfly house, live animals, indoor and outdoor exhibits, the Heard welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually. The Heard is one of the most important attractions in the City of McKinney.