discovery tours - nature guide training - walks & workshops - summer camp - interpretive signs - self-guided trails - group reservations

Our Education Program

Mount Pisgah Arboretum's Education Program has been serving the community since 1981-longer than any other outdoor environmental education program in the Eugene area. The Arboretum's 209 acres-which incorporate diverse ecological habitats from riparian meadows to oak savannas, and open plateaus to forested hillsides-feature an unparalleled mixture of native and introduced trees, shrubs, wildflowers, mosses, lichens, and other species.

Educational opportunities at the Arboretum are many. In addition to the Arboretum's adult, family, and children's education programs, the site is also used as an outdoor teaching facility by local institutions like the University of Oregon, Lane Community College, and the Eugene and Springfield school districts. Informal education takes place at the Arboretum through informational signs and kiosks, displays in the Visitor Center, and at our annual Wildflower and Mushroom Festivals.

Discovery Tours Program for Elementary Schools

 

The Arboretum's school program, established in 1981, is the largest and longest-running environmental education program of its kind in Lane County. The seven miles of trails and unique variety of ecosystems makes the Arboretum a perfect place to teach young people about the natural world.

Each Spring and Fall, 3000 K-5th grade students hike the Arboretum trails with trained nature guides and participate in environmental education activities and games. Spring Program themes follow the Eugene 4J School District science curriculum. Tours are designed to encourage active involvement and cultivate the natural curiosity of the students.

Click here for detailed information about spring and fall "Discovery Tours" .

 

Nature Guide Training

Love nature and enjoy exploring it with children?
Each year, in spring and fall, Mount Pisgah Arboretum offers a free training program for volunteers interested in becoming nature guides. Trained guides lead hands-on, nature hikes for K-5 grade students visiting the Arboretum. Guides use creative techniques and teaching methods to stimulate the students' interest and encourage appreciation and respect for the environment. Interested in getting involved? Click here to download a Nature Guide Application Form.

You’ll enjoy being a part of our dedicated pool of nature guides. They  include people from all walks of life–– from university students and working people, to retired teachers and grandparents. We all share our love of nature and our desire to reconnect children with the natural world. 

Nature Guide Training begins every year in mid-March and mid-September. Click here for a PDF of the Fall 2008 Training Schedule. Training sessions are free and cover natural history, plant and animal ID, storytelling, environmental education games and activities, teaching techniques and group management on the trails. Guides are provided with an Arboretum Guidebook and a training manual that they will add to throughout training. (There is a $10 materials fee).

Training sessions are held on weekday evenings and weekend mornings to allow for flexibility. Make-up sessions may be scheduled for some sessions. The 15-18 hours of training includes two observation tours during the first weeks of the school program. This is an opportunity for new guides to "shadow" experienced guides and get a better sense of how to lead a tour.

Adult and family nature walks, offered throughout the year, are free for nature guides and nature guide trainees! These walks are perfect opportunities to increase your knowledge of the natural history of the area.

Commitment

Nature guides are requested to lead a minimum of one morning tour per week during the Discovery Tours field trip program (April 20-June 11, 2009 and October 1-November 13, 2009)

Internships

The Arboretum Nature Guide Program is a fantastic opportunity for students. Whether seeking job experience in the environmental education field or just looking for a fun opportunity working outdoors with children, students develop new skills that include: plant and animal ID, interpreting the environment, teaching young children, public speaking, group management.

Course credit is available for this position through the UO Career Development Center, UO Career Center, UO Community Internship Program, UO Environmental Studies Internship Program and various other departments. Credit is also available through the LCC Cooperative Education Program. Please call our Education Manager Fran Rosenthal at (541) 747-1504 for more information.

Click here for more information on becoming a Nature Guide, our most recent guide training schedule, and an application.

 

Walks and Workshops for Adults and Children

The Walks and Workshops program for adults and families has been a vital part of the Arboretum's education program since 1995. This program offers weekend walks led by local experts on seasonal topics like spring wildflowers, reptiles and amphibians, birds, mosses, and fall ecology. The Arboretum's many different habitats offer a wealth of opportunities to explore these topics in great detail and breadth.

Educational workshops at the Arboretum offer a chance to delve more deeply into natural history, cultural, and artistic topics. Ecologically-based workshops for adults include classes on botany, lichens, birding, gardening with native plants, identifying winter twigs, and mushrooming. Cultural history workshops have covered the plant technology of Northwest Native Americans, papermaking with native plants, and traditional basketry. Natural art topics include building birdfeeders; drawing birds, wildflowers, and mammals; and painting landscapes in watercolor. Family workshops explore topics like bats, bugs, stargazing, and making walking sticks.

We're always looking for enthusiastic and knowledgeable people to lead nature walks and workshops! If you have an area of expertise you would like to share with others in the community, please call our education office to discuss possibilities at (541) 747-1504.

Click here for our upcoming walks and workshops, this weekend and beyond!

Outdoor Adventure Summer Camp

Mount Pisgah Arboretum Summer Camp-where your children enjoy summer days in nature! Mount Pisgah Arboretum, between the slopes of Mount Pisgah and the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, is a living museum with diverse ecological habitats- from riparian meadows and savannas to open plateaus and forested hillsides. Campers will hike, play games, build a wilderness shelter, create things from nature, explore meadows, creeks, and ponds, and indulge in an afternoon Ice Cream Social. And we won't forget those traditional activities that make summer camp SUMMER CAMP-camp songs, stories, and talent shows!

Each camp session runs Monday–Friday, 9am to 4pm. Extended care is available from 8-9am and 4-5pm.

Click here to visit our camp page for information about our most recent camp, and check back in the spring to find out about next summer's camp!

Other Education

Visitor Center

The Arboretum's Visitor Center has provided learning experiences for visitors since 1985. Open from April through October on weekends, the VC features native amphibian and reptile terraria, microscopes for exploring tiny seeds and bugs or looking up-close at feathers and snakeskins, "touch me" exhibits, reference books, and a working viewable bee hive.

Working in the Visitor Center offers volunteers a chance to interact with the public, explore nature with children, and learn new things about the Arboretum.

Interpretive Signs

In 2001, the Arboretum installed its first interpretive sign overlooking the Great Meadow to educate visitors about oak savanna habitats. The sign discusses the importance of this habitat for native peoples, and how the area is being managed to conserve this vanishing ecosystem type. More interpretive signs are planned for each major plant community found in the Arboretum.

Self Guided Nature Trails

For independent learners, the Arboretum offers two brochures that hikers can use on a self-guided tour of the trails. The "Children's Guide to the Nature Trail" leads users along a one-mile long nature trail with numbered stations to follow along with. "Exploring the Forest" is a brochure for all ages that offers ecological information for a variety of habitats and along several different trails.

Other arboretum collections that are educational in nature and available to the public include: (1) A collection of framed, scientifically accurate watercolor paintings of native Willamette Valley plants by the late artist Frances Cushing Hall. These are hung in the administrative offices. (2) A collection of approximately 700 slides of Arboretum plants, animals and ecological features. (3) A library containing hundreds of natural history and gardening books. Contact Fran Rosenthal, Education Manager, to find out about these latter two collections.

Large Group Reservation Policy

Although there is no admission fee, the increasing popularity of the Arboretum and our educational programs necessitates that large groups make a reservation prior to their visit. Scheduling groups prevents overcrowding on the trails during the busy season and insures us, and our visitors, that one scheduled event does not negatively impact another so that all of us have a pleasant outdoor experience. Please contact the Arboretum office at 747-3817 if you plan to come out in a group larger than 10. We encourage groups larger than 10 to give a donation of $1 per person to help Mount Pisgah Arboretum offset costs related to visitor impacts to the site.

 

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