Education/Outreach
Education volunteer with students (Photo: Kay Burdette)
Environmental Science Education Programs
We use the environment as our classroom. Since 2003 environmental science programs at the Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve have introduced thousands of elementary school students to the wonders of nature. Programs use the Preserve for activity based programs on plants and habitats, wetland ecosystems, tree identification, birds and bird migration, and everyone’s favorite – the pond.
Read more about our elementary school programs >
Watch our “Introduction to a Wetland” video for a glimpse of our program in action.
Click to watch video >
SFBG volunteers work with teachers in their classrooms and at the Preserve to enhance the learning experience. Activities involve students in the skills of observation, classification, inference and experimentation and are closely correlated with the New Mexico Science Standards.
Local schools and colleges often use the Preserve as an outdoor classroom to supplement their curricula. The Boy Scouts and other youth organizations have used the site for community service work projects.
The opening of the Santa Fe Botanical Garden at Museum Hill provides an opportunity to expand the educational mission. With its in-town and easily accessible location, environmental education will have another uniquely Santa Fe location.
Service Learning
Connecting students and nature through service learning partnerships is an effective tool for restoring native ecosystems while simultaneously rebuilding relationships between students and nature and inspiring future stewards of the land. We have partnered with a local high school on projects at our Museum Hill site and encourage educators looking for project partners to contact our office.
Adult Education
We offer many programs year round which will be listed on our Events page to register and attend. We also share a wealth of knowledge through our website articles on topics such as Birds of the Preserve, our Plant of the Month articles and very useful insight on Santa Fe Gardening.
- History Tours
- Botanical Watercolor Classes
- Plant Walks
- Butterfly Walks
- Docent Training Program: We offer a Docent Training Program to prepare volunteers to lead nature walks for the public or school groups. The docents’ responsibility is to help visitors to the Preserves and people in the community better understand and appreciate Santa Fe Botanical Garden and our very unique environments.
Public Lectures and Symposia
Professionals and invited speakers support the mission of SFBG by giving presentations on a broad range of topics. In 2010, our Meadows, Grasses & Wildflower Conference held at Institute of American Indian Arts was attended by nearly 200 participants. Our annual Winter Lecture Series also is a forum for our members and public to learn about fascinating topics from experts in their field. Topics include garden design, architecture and history.
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