Research & Education

Surprisingly, little is known about the structure, composition, and classification of natural ecosystems in this region.

Natural Lands Trust's nature preserves offer a wide range of research and educational opportunities through which both the Trust and local schools and universities can come to understand the region much better.

Both the researchers and Natural Lands Trust benefit. Scientists gain by having access to permanently protected and relatively secure natural areas on which to conduct experiments. By hosting research and educational activities, NLT learns how to better understand and manage our preserves.

Supporting environmental education is also critical, helping to educate the next generation to the importance of our mission. While we are not an environmental education organization, we do look for ways to make our preserves available for such efforts whenever possible and occasionally develop programs of our own.

• The Stroud Water Research Center has a permanent presence at our Stroud Preseve near West Chester. The highly regarded Center is studying the impact of different land uses on stream headwaters.
• A permanent partnership between Natural Lands Trust and Dickinson College at our Reineman Preserve in Carlisle, PA, is yielding exciting new research on the impact of deer over-population on Pennsylvania landscapes.
• The National Audubon Society is conducting similar research on several NLT preserves, using exclosures to compare the growth of areas that are impacted by deer browsing with those that are not.
• The Natural Resource Conservation Service is partnering with NLT to develop best practices for establishing warm season grass meadows and creating wetlands.

For more information about current and future research opportunities on NLT preserves, please contact Jim Thorne, Director of Science and Education at 610-353-5587 or send email to info@natlands.org

• Our "Sense of Place" program has reached hundreds of grade school students in southern New Jersey; exposing them to protected lands in their area and providing an introduction to environmental science.
• At our Crow's Nest Preserve, a small summer day camp and after-school programs have become very popular. The program gives campers the chance to explore the preserve through both structured programs and unstructured walks.
• As part of a partnership, Bucks County Audubon uses our Paunacussing Preserve in Buckingham Township for several of its educational programs.
• School groups regularly make field trips to NLT preserves.