Calendar of Events
Harris Center for Conservation Education
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.
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.
Following in the Footsteps of John Kulish to White Swamp and Spoonwood Pond
Join Stan Smith and Vic Starzynski for a 5-mile roundtrip hike through the wilds of the SuperSanctuary. We’ll start at the end of King’s Highway along Nubanusit Lake and then take a bearing by compass to White Swamp and Spoonwood Pond.
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.
Annual Meeting
Save the date for the Harris Center’s 2023 Annual Meeting! Join Harris Center staff, trustees, and friends for highlights from the past year, special recognitions, and a talk by Matthew Myer Boulton of the SALT Project.
Hiking the West Side Trails
Join Harris Center trustees and local hiking enthusiasts Denise Zimmer and Tara Kessler for an autumn hike of the Harris Center’s West Side Trails to Skatutakee and Thumb Mountains.
LGBTQ+ Community Hike on Skatutakee and Thumb Mountains
Join Dee Denehy (she, her), Richard Doherty (he, him), and Hunter Kirschner (he, they) for an LGBTQ+ community hike on the Harris Center’s West Side Trails to Skatutakee and Thumb Mountains.
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.
Environmental Studies Institute: Creativity in the Artdoors
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin local environmental artist Sarah Wilson for this three-session class, where we’ll make beautiful works of outdoor art using materials sourced from nature.
Art Exhibit and Talk: An Illustrated Exploration of Lichen Lore
Join us to celebrate the opening of our newest art exhibit — a series of poster illustrations by Susan Edwards, with descriptions adapted from Kay Hurley’s text for their forthcoming book, "Lichenpedia: A Compendium of Lichen Lore."
Environmental Studies Institute: Creativity in the Artdoors
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin local environmental artist Sarah Wilson for this three-session class, where we’ll make beautiful works of outdoor art using materials sourced from nature.
All About Jack’s Pond: A History Hike
Join Hancock writer Eric Aldrich, Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol, and Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire Director JerriAnne Boggis for a 2.5-mile roundtrip hike to Jack’s Pond, where we'll hear about Jack's life, the families he was connected with, and how Black history — so long in the shadows — is now coming to light.
Surveying for Salamanders
Join Harris Center ecologist Brett Amy Thelen for an afternoon of salamander monitoring at the Harris Center’s long-term study plots.
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.
Environmental Studies Institute: Creativity in the Artdoors
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin local environmental artist Sarah Wilson for this three-session class, where we’ll make beautiful works of outdoor art using materials sourced from nature.
Kids Count for Wildlife: Red-backed Salamander Survey
Calling all wildlife lovers ages 9 through 18! Try your hand at field research and develop your naturalist skills by joining Harris Center naturalists for an afternoon of salamander counting.
Mushroom Meander with the Morel Quandary Club at the Harris Center
Join fungi fanatics John Benjamin and George Caughey to search for early fall mushrooms. Discover your inner fungiphile as we look for polypores, boletes, amanitas, russulas, slime molds, and more!
Book Launch Party: “Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell”
Join us for this special event with award-winning author Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson as we celebrate their newest book on publication day. "Of Time and Turtles" relates the dramas and insights gleaned from working in a hospital for injured, sick, and abandoned turtles and, at the same time, investigates the mystery of time itself.
Monarch Butterfly Tagging
Every fall, monarch butterflies undertake a spectacular, 3,000-mile migration from New England to central Mexico. Here’s your chance to marvel at monarchs up close while contributing to the scientific understanding of their impressive annual migration!
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.
Tick Talk
Join us for a talk about the ecology of Lyme disease with Lyme expert Kathie Fife, who will share her knowledge and experiences as a patient of Lyme, natural resource specialist, and patient advocate.
Native Plant Sale
Great news: locally grown native plants are available in the Monadnock Region! Come meet grower Aaron Abitz — a man on a mission to help both pollinators and people — and take home some beautiful plants for your yard and garden.
Hiking the East Side Trails
Join Ben Haubrich and Peter Harrison for a 1.5-mile loop hike along the Harris Center’s newly re-routed East Side trail network, where cool hemlock and hardwood forests give way to huge glacial boulders.
First Meeting of the Harris Center’s Rock Hound Club for Families
Join naturalists Susie Spikol and Julie Brown for a different rockin’ outing each month from August through November. We’ll explore rock and mineral collections, visit geological sites, and connect with geologists, all while keeping our eye out for special stones, fossils, and more.
Covered Bridges of New Hampshire
Join us for this special evening with Bill Caswell, President of the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, and Kim Varney Chandler, author of Covered Bridges of New Hampshire, as they share the intriguing history of these historic structures.
Snake Search with Wildlife Artist Matt Patterson
Join wildlife artist, conservationist, and snake enthusiast Matt Patterson for an afternoon snake search around the Harris Center grounds! Perfect for families with children in elementary school and above.
Mushroom Meander with the Morel Quandary Club at the Harris Center
Let the warm summer rains bring on the mushrooms! Join Harris Center naturalist John Benjamin and mushroom enthusiast George Caughey to search for the fantastic fungi of summer.
Environmental Studies Institute: CyberTracker Track & Sign Evaluations
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin Nate Harvey for a two-day tracking intensive through CyberTracker's Track & Sign Evaluation program. This is both a certification for those who desire it and a rich learning experience for anyone who wants to learn more about wildlife track & sign.
Field Forays with the SuperSanctuary Butterfly Club
Calling all butterfly fans! Join wildlife biologist Mark Ellingwood and other members of the SuperSanctuary Butterfly Club for this two-part course as we practice identifying butterflies on the wing and in the net, in preparation for a statewide butterfly survey in July.
Environmental Studies Institute: CyberTracker Track & Sign Evaluations
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin Nate Harvey for a two-day tracking intensive through CyberTracker's Track & Sign Evaluation program. This is both a certification for those who desire it and a rich learning experience for anyone who wants to learn more about wildlife track & sign.
