Joan Turns’ relationship with Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center goes back 30 years as a patron, volunteer and employee. She and her husband, Steve, decided to turn that passion into a financial commitment to the center.
Showcasing the diversity of agriculture, from crops to animals to forestry and wildlife, is at the heart of the annual Ag Day celebration, hosted by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. This year’s event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 10 on the lawn adjacent to the Penn State Berkey Creamery.
Mary Ellen Litzinger, Craig Weidemann, and Penn State World Campus alumni Beth Berna and Michael Bach were honored at the 2018 Penn State Outreach and Online Education Appreciation Dinner, Oct. 11 at the Nittany Lion Inn.
Mary Ellen and Tom Litzinger have established the $1.2 million Mary Ellen and Thomas A. Litzinger Endowment at Shaver’s Creek through a bequest to ensure educational opportunities and a sustainable future for Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center at Penn State.
The creators of three new books published by Penn State University Press will gather at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center on Sept. 12 for “Capturing a Changing Landscape,” a panel discussion and launch of their work.
A 30-minute educational lesson about the importance of leaving what you find during outdoor experiences helps young people feel more connected to nature and results in children being less likely to take natural items home as souvenirs, according to a study conducted at Outdoor School, a residential program run by Penn State’s Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center.
A good way to describe ramps, it has been said, is to note what they are not. Ramps are not leeks, nor are they scallions or shallots. Ramps look like scallions, but they're smaller and have one or two broad, flat leaves.
Funded by a $50,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are conducting an 18-month study of the forest herb goldenseal — Hydrastis canadensis — in Pennsylvania.
Pete Allison, associate professor for the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management and Shaver’s Creek at Penn State, recently discussed the concept of experiential learning at the annual Czech Philosophy of Sport Conference at Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. In the conference keynote, Allison discussed the importance of educating for the “grande passion,” a powerful, internal motivation to learn and pursue one’s interests.
The Shaver’s Creek Native Plant Festival has a new home while the annual Birding Cup fundraiser readies for watchful birders during the first weekend in May.
During the Maple Harvest Festival and Pancake Breakfast at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, visitors can enjoy an all-you-can-eat breakfast while learning about the maple sugaring process from tree to table. The festival will be held at Shaver’s Creek on March 19 and 20 from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Like a dependable flock of third-shift insect-control workers, bats can eat up to 3,000 insects every night. Now the once-plentiful nocturnal master of northeastern summers is threatened by a mysterious fungal disease. Researchers say that during the last decade, white-nose syndrome has decimated much of the region’s cave-dwelling bat populations, and cratered entire bat species.
At Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, classroom space is often filled to capacity, stretching the limits of the more than 75-year-old facility that has never gone through a major renovation. For the first time, Shaver’s Creek will undergo major improvements and new construction to help serve the current demand.
In a related story, Stone Valley's Lake Perez reopened in April. (http://news.psu.edu/story/343293/2015/02/03/campus-life/stone-valley%E2%...).
The Fall Harvest Festival and Children’s Halloween Trail at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 24 and 25. About 1,500 visitors are expected to attend the free annual festival, which features pumpkin carving, games, live music, storytelling, face painting, food and animal programs.
Shaver’s Creek, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society, will co-host the fifth annual Central Pennsylvania Native Plant Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 2. The 18th annual Birding Cup, which awards prizes for the most bird species spotted in a 24-hour period, will take place the same weekend beginning at 7 p.m. on May 1.
