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 Powdermill is Alive!
Powdermill Nature Reserve, the biological research station
of the Carnegie
Museum of Natural History, has been dedicated
to its mission of research, education, and preservation
for over 50 years. It is a place for scientists, for students,
and for families who are interested in the natural world,
and it is home to the one of the longest continually running
bird
banding stations in the United States. A wide variety
of public education programs are regularly offered to children
and adults at the Powdermill Nature Reserve headquarters building.
Researchers from around the world conduct diverse long-
and short-term scientific studies in herpetology, botany,
invertebrate zoology, and ornithology at Powdermill.
A growing
future is developing for Powdermill as, thanks to the generosity
of countless supporters and a major
grant from the Richard King Mellon
Foundation, the nature center undergoes a 10,000
square
foot expansion. With the latest
in sustainable design technology, the new headquarters
building will provide an additional classroom, greatly
improved exhibits,
necessary administrative space, and, the reason behind
it all, comfortable indoor restrooms. Besides enhancing
programming
opportunities, the expansion will include event rental
spaces, the capability to host special museum exhibits,
and, with
the marsh
machine wastewater treatment greenhouse, will be
an educational showcase of environmentally sensitive design.
Another
exciting component of the nature center expansion is the
2007
Solar Decathlon
house, which combines the talents
of students from Carnegie Mellon University and the University
of Pittsburgh. After the competition in Washington, D.C.,
the solar house will be transported to Powdermill where
it will be re-constructed and serve as an exhibit of
the latest
in “green” architecture and engineering.
The
new Powdermill headquarters opened to the public on Sunday,
December 2, 2007.
Click here to see
photos from the opening event!
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The
annual North American Butterfly Association (NABA) Butterfly
Count will be held at Powdermill for the ninth year on
July 19th, 2008. The count program has been held annually
across the country since 1975. Volunteers around North
America select a count area with a 15-mile diameter and
conduct a one-day census of all butterflies observed within
that circle.
The
count program is intended to promote interest in butterflies
and provide scientific results for the monitoring of this
beautiful and fascinating group of insects.
For
more information:
– Click
here to see the 2008 flyer (PDF,
87 Kb)
– Click
here for the 2006 results (PDF, 8 Kb)
If you
don't have Acrobat Reader, click
here for the free download
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