Letters: Philly area's top-notch nature centers beckon

ISSUE | NATURAL SCIENCES

Phila. area's top-notch centers beckon

As a longtime science educator, I enjoyed the commentary about the history of science in Philadelphia ("Experiment with Philly's science legacy," Thursday).

While it covered a lot of ground, the natural sciences deserve more attention. In addition to the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Philadelphia Zoo - America's first - is a landmark and a pioneer in the history of science.

But the natural science network also includes a stunning diversity of arboreta and nature centers, many with long legacies, offering environmental science programming for thousands of people annually.

Whether it's the Silver Lake Nature Center in Bristol Township or Tyler Arboretum in Media, the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor or the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, my Schuylkill Center in Upper Roxborough or the Delaware Nature Society's multiple sites in the First State, the region is blessed with an abundance of nonprofits that have offered first-class natural science programming for decades.

Check them out, too.

|Mike Weilbacher, executive director, Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, mike@schuylkillcenter.org