EcoCenter Overview
What Is The EcoCenter?
The EcoCenter is the administrative headquarters for the EV and a new nature center open to the public. Admission is free of charge. Our headquarters is the workspace for our professional staff of 9 who direct and implement our programs in support of our mission to promote understanding of and responsibility for the environment through hands-on science education.
The EcoCenter is a new community resource for environmental education. Through our new location in the beautiful Baylands Nature Preserve, we will expand our mission fulfillment and offer new educational opportunities for children, adults, and families. The EcoCenter is a gathering place for environmental education in Northern California, a hands-on science center, a starting-off point for Baylands hikers, and a resource for marshland ecology education and the advancement of environmental stewardship in California.
What Educational Opportunities Does the EcoCenter Offer?
We offer a robust menu of ecological programs and displays whose content is ever-changing, ever-evolving.
The EcoCenter includes several kinds of learning opportunities:
- Interactive Touchscreen Displays: Earth, Sea, Sky, and Change. The touchscreens include updatable interactive digital content, displays and activities that allow visitors of all ages to explore each theme.
- ‘A Building That Teaches’: A green building tour that uses the EcoCenter’s sustainable elements to teach; window vision statements that inspire visitors to think about their relationship with the environment; peek-a-boo windows in the wall and the floor; and other fun elements that use the building to educate.
- Educational Programs: The EcoCenter hosts a myriad of activities and programs designed to educate children, adults and families. These activities include nature art programs, hikes, birding expeditions, lectures, natural science learning days, and Citizen Science, where visitors collect scientific data that can be used by actual scientists.