Calendar of Events
Babies in Backpacks & Toddlers in Tow at Robin Hood Park
Join Harris Center educator Jazimina MacNeil for these pint-sized adventures in Keene and beyond! Together, we’ll explore, wander, and discover the magic of nearby nature.
The Kestrels Young Birders Club: Saw-whet Owl Banding Demonstration
Are you a teenager with an interest in birds and birding? Join a growing movement of young adults who are honing their wildlife observation skills, learning to recognize birds and their calls, and spending time outside building community with other young birders.
Nature’s Playground Play Group
Join Harris Center naturalists and parent educators from The Grapevine and The River Center for a morning of child-centered, unstructured outdoor play. While your little ones collect acorns, build nests, pretend to be butterflies, build tiny forts, eat like chipmunks, and make new friends, you’ll have a chance to talk with other parents and caregivers.
Mushroom Meander with Morel Quandary Club at the Horatio Colony Nature Preserve
Join mushroom mavens John Benjamin and George Caughey for an afternoon ramble in search of late-season fungi. From polypores and slime molds to waxy caps and honey mushrooms, you never know what we’ll find on one of these fungtastical forays!
Babies in Backpacks & Toddlers in Tow at the Harris Center
Join Harris Center naturalist and animal lover Susie Spikol and parent educators from the River Center and The Grapevine in search of adventure and wild finds. Play games, sing songs, search for tiny creatures, and spend time with other families interested in exploring the outdoors.
ESI – A Quiet Bower: What the Life and Writings of Rachel Carson Can Teach Us About Modern Conservation
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin self-avowed Rachel Carson enthusiast Kim Snyder for an exploration of the life and legacy of conservation icon Rachel Carson and the lessons she still has to teach us in this new age of conservation urgency.
Easygoing Hike on Monadnock’s Old Toll Road to Little Mountain
Join Phil Brown and Ben Haubrich for a leisurely hike on the Old Toll Road to “Little Mountain” for some stellar views of the southern Monadnock Region.
Film Showing: “The Mighty Weasel”
The weasel family is often associated with unsavory behavior – we “badger” people, “ferret” out the enemy, and “weasel” out of obligations – but do these critters deserve their bad reputations? Decide for yourself during a big-screen showing of this enlightening PBS Nature documentary.
A Celebration of Poetry and Protected Lands
Join us to celebrate the publication of the newest anthology of the Writing the Land project, Channels, which features two beloved Harris Center-protected properties, the Hiroshi Land and Kulish Ledges.
ESI – A Quiet Bower: What the Life and Writings of Rachel Carson Can Teach Us About Modern Conservation
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin self-avowed Rachel Carson enthusiast Kim Snyder for an exploration of the life and legacy of conservation icon Rachel Carson and the lessons she still has to teach us in this new age of conservation urgency.
ESI – A Quiet Bower: What the Life and Writings of Rachel Carson Can Teach Us About Modern Conservation
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin self-avowed Rachel Carson enthusiast Kim Snyder for an exploration of the life and legacy of conservation icon Rachel Carson and the lessons she still has to teach us in this new age of conservation urgency.
Climate and Health
Join us for a talk put together by New Hampshire Healthcare Workers for Climate Action, a grassroots, non-partisan coalition of healthcare workers. Conservation biologist and nurse Cynthia Nichols will discuss the climate-health nexus, along with climate solutions and what we can do to protect ourselves.
LAB GIRLS+ Experiments from the Wild
Get your science on during this once-a-month afterschool club with Harris Center naturalists Jaime Hutchinson and Susie Spikol. If you like experiments, nature, hands-on experiences, wild animals, making discoveries, tasty snacks, and free tee shirts, then this is the club for you!
Afterschool Program: Small Worlds and Wild Imaginations
Hancock Town Library 25 Main Street, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin Harris Center teacher-naturalist Nikko Gagnon for a weekly adventure focused on creating our own small worlds! Together, we’ll build small creatures, their homes, and their worlds using natural materials found in our environment.
Winter Tree Identification Workshop
Join Mike Gagnon and Matt Tarr of UNH Cooperative Extension for a relaxed ramble focused on winter tree identification. We’ll examine branching, buds, and bark while the leaves are off the trees, and discuss how each species functions as habitat for wildlife.
The Harris Center X SheJumps: Wilderness Skills for Girls+
Calling all girls+ who love the outdoors and want to add to their repertoire of wilderness skills! Join us for a morning of romping in the woods, collecting materials for tea, learning fire-building techniques, and practicing proper preparation for hiking and snowshoeing in cold weather.
How Urbanization Affects Wild Birds with Researcher Lauren Pharr
In our increasingly urban world, anthropogenic (human-produced) changes such as light pollution are dramatically affecting wildlife. Join Lauren D. Pharr, a PhD student at North Carolina State University, for a discussion of her research into the impacts of urbanization on birds.
Afterschool Program: Small Worlds and Wild Imaginations
Hancock Town Library 25 Main Street, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin Harris Center teacher-naturalist Nikko Gagnon for a weekly adventure focused on creating our own small worlds! Together, we’ll build small creatures, their homes, and their worlds using natural materials found in our environment.
50th Annual Peterborough-Hancock Christmas Bird Count
Every winter for 50 consecutive years, volunteers have scoured a 15-mile diameter circle in the Peterborough-Hancock area for birds as part of the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) – the largest and longest-running community science project in the world. In addition to the teams who fan out in the field, birds are also tallied at backyard feeders.
The Kestrels Young Birders Club: Christmas Bird Count
Are you a teenager or tween with an interest in birds and birding? Join a growing movement of young adults who are honing their wildlife observation skills, learning to recognize birds and their calls, and spending time outside building community with other young birders.
Ask A Naturalist: Best of 2023
Join our team of talented naturalists as they explore some of this year’s most intriguing natural history mysteries. With topics ranging from bird behavior to turtle treks to enigmatic scat, there will be something for everyone!
Afterschool Program: Small Worlds and Wild Imaginations
Hancock Town Library 25 Main Street, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin Harris Center teacher-naturalist Nikko Gagnon for a weekly adventure focused on creating our own small worlds! Together, we’ll build small creatures, their homes, and their worlds using natural materials found in our environment.
Easygoing Hike at the Shattuck Golf Course
Join Harris Center naturalist Nikko Gagnon and longtime trip leader Ben Haubrich for a leisurely, 3-mile meander along the paths of The Shattuck. We’ll explore both edges and open landscapes, searching for animal tracks and signs as we go.
Environmental Studies Institute: Coffee with the Birds
local field sitesJoin Phil Brown and Ignacio Oreamuno for a series of winter wanderings in tucked-away places close to the Harris Center. Each exploration will focus on a different natural history theme related to the conditions that present themselves that day.
Unraveling the Mysteries of a Murder: The Roosting Crows of Lawrence, Massachusetts
Join fellow Corvid enthusiasts Phil Brown and Dan Gardoqui in the urban wilds of downtown Lawrence, Massachusetts, where we’ll watch, enjoy, and learn more about the annual winter roost of American Crows that approaches 20,000 birds nightly.
Hiking Cathedral of the Pines & Emerson Pond
Join skilled hike leaders Brian Bishoff and Denny Wheeler for an exploration of two beautiful properties in Rindge. We’ll cover about 3 miles roundtrip and gain 150 feet of elevation as we hike along well-kept trails featuring lovely views of Emerson Pond.
Easygoing Hike at Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp
Join Harris Center naturalist Phil Brown and longtime trip leader Ben Haubrich for a 2-mile hike along gently rolling terrain at The Nature Conservancy’s Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp Preserve, where we’ll search for signs of winter wildlife on our way to a view of the cedars.
Bark: Identifying Trees in Winter
Join Michael Wojtech, author of "Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast," to sharpen your tree identification skills and learn how to identify New Hampshire trees by their bark alone.
Exploring the Hiroshi Loop Trail
Join Harris Center teacher-naturalists Nikko Gagnon and Kara Reynolds to hike the 1.9-mile Hiroshi Loop Trail, which winds gently through field and forest and along Nubanusit Brook to gorgeous views of Dinsmore Pond.
Environmental Studies Institute: Coffee with the Birds
local field sitesJoin Phil Brown and Ignacio Oreamuno for a series of winter wanderings in tucked-away places close to the Harris Center. Each exploration will focus on a different natural history theme related to the conditions that present themselves that day.
