Continuing to gain knowledge past our childhood is essential to stay young at heart and ALT is eager to engage adults in learning both on our properties and at your location. These programs are presentation style with hands-on activities and/or manipulatives like skins, feathers, or nests to keep participants engaged. Social clubs, adult living communities, educator trainings, and other gatherings are great ways to utilize our Nature Nearby series. Please note that all below programs involve a PowerPoint presentation, thus ALT will need a projection space for any on-site programs.

Contact Julie to learn more about this programming, pricing or scheduling.

Educators’ Corner

These programs are designed to meet Act 48 and/or PQAS hours.

• Animal Architects: Utilizing Nature to Teach STEM
• From Ew to Ah Ha! Turning Fear of Nature into Curiosity
• Getting Little Feet WET
• Getting Little Hands on the Land
• Growing Up WILD
• Project WET
• Project WILD
• Utilizing Nature Storybooks
• WOW: Wonders of Wetlands

Adult Programming

• All About Hummingbirds: Hummingbirds are feats of nature! Explore Pennsylvania’s only hummingbird, the Ruby Throated Hummingbird, and it’s fascinating biology. 
• All About Salamanders: The presence of salamanders can teach us so much about the health of the ecosystem. Explore and identify salamanders of PA in this workshop. 
• All About Bears: How many species of bear call PA home? How do our bear compare to bears around the world? Learn some of the fascinating biology behind bears. 
• Animal Stars of your Favorite Holiday Songs: Who can haul more gifts, a donkey or a reindeer? Are reindeer and white tailed deer the same? What exactly IS a turtledove? We’ll explore some of those famous creatures! 
• Awesome Opossums: Is it Possum or Opossum? What is so special about our rat-tailed friends of the night? Learn about the intriguing biology and ecological importance of our oft overlooked opossums. 
• Beauty of Bats: Across the globe, bats are key plays in almost every major ecosystem. Explore their unique roles in PA and how we should appreciate them year round, not just at Halloween!  
• Birds of the Night: Other than owls, who loves the night? Learn about our mysterious feathered friends of the night sky. 
• Birding in Your Backyard: Learn the identifying characteristics and calls of some of the most common backyard birds. 
• Butterflies 101: One of nature’s most beautiful and colorful creatures will be explored during this program. Learn how to identify some of PA’s common butterflies as they fly by!
  Common Mushrooms of the Yard and Garden: Mushrooms love to pop up in our flower pots, yards and mulch beds. This program explores who those fungi friends are. 
• Composting 101: How can you create a sustainable compost bin right in your backyard? Learn how to create various types of composting bins and know what you can and cannot put inside them. 
• Coyotes 101: Just how common are coyotes in PA? Learn about some of the amazing ecology and folklore behind the misunderstood coyote. 
• Creating Backyard Habitats: How can you design your yard to attract native pollinators, birds and more? Learn what to plant and what to include in your yard to increase your backyard biodiversity. 
• Creating Small Space Sanctuaries: Little to no backyard? No problem! Learn how you can still support native biodiversity by gardening strategically with small spaces such as balconies and containers. 
• Creative Courtships and Mating Madness: In nature, does love really conquer all? Discover what creatures gift gifts to their mates, who makes amazing art, and who plays dead to avoid a suitor. 
• Curious Caterpillars: Why would the early bird rather have a caterpillar then a worm? Learn the incredible biology and facts about caterpillars, and learn what the caterpillars of common PA butterflies look like. 
• Fall Wild Edibles: As the weather cools off, learn what wild plants can be used in preparing and cooking some of your favorite cold weather dishes like soups and warm teas. 
• Fall and Winter Gardening for Wildlife: How can you sustain wildlife in your yard over winter? Learn tricks and tips to making sure your yard is a winter wonderland for native wildlife. 
• Fantastic Fireflies: Some of the most magical insects on Earth are explored in this workshop. Learn how to tell species apart by just their lights!  
• Fungi 101: Ever found some alien looking substance and wondered if it was a mushroom? This program explores what mushrooms are, where they grow and some of the unique, and common, species we find. 
• Harvesting Rainwater: From rain barrels to rain gardens, learn how to utilize rainwater to lower your water bill and reduce your ecological footprint. 
• iNaturalist: Learn how to become a community scientist and use the free iNaturalist app to start tracking local biodiversity while exploring the natural world. 
• Invasive Bugs: While usually a vital component of the ecosystem, some bugs can wreak havoc. Learn some of PA’s emerging and established invasive insect species. 
• Invasive Species of Pittsburgh: Our region is home to many types of invasive species. Being able to identify and remove them is vital to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. 
• Native Bees of PA: Did you know that PA is home to more species of bees than birds? Learn about out buzzy, beautiful bees! 
• Native Plants 101: What wildflowers do you commonly see? Are they native to PA? We’ll learn about PA’s native wildflowers and explore the benefits of planting native plants in your gardens. 
• Nature’s Early Risers: After a long winter, why do some animals wake up from hibernation earlier than others? Learn some of the benefits to being some of nature’s lightest sleepers. 
• Nature’s Zombies and Vampires: Are all ticks bloodthirsty? What about mosquitoes, do they all want to make a meal of us? Explore some of the creatures (and fungi!) of the world that rely on living hosts. 
• Owls of PA: From the tiny Screech Owl, to the “tiger of the sky” Great Horned Owl, explore the amazing characteristics of PA’s 8 owl species. 
• Preparing for the Great Backyard Bird Count: What is the Great Backyard Bird Count and how can we prepare for it as Community Scientists? Learn how to aid science by counting birds every February. 
• Reducing Food Waste: Much of what packs a landfill is uneaten food. Learn how can we utilize things like kitchen scrap gardening, seed saving and composting to reduce wood waste. 
• Seed Saving and Propagation: How can you make more plants from what you already have? Learn ways to collect and store seeds, as well as how to propagate and sow native plants. 
• Snakes of PA: We’ll explore the facts and myths about one of the world’s most misunderstood creatures, snakes! Learn to tell truth from fiction and how to identify some of PA’s most common slithery friends.  
• Snakes and Frogs of PA: How many of PA’s snake species are venomous? Do we have tree frogs locally? Learn how to identify some of our native snakes and frogs. 
• Science of Spiders: Spiders have been on Earth longer than mammals. We’ll explore their fascinating biology as well as some myths and folklore. 
• Spring’s Early Bloomers: Providing some of the first food of the spring for bees, this workshop explores the wildflowers that bloom just as the snow begins to melt.  
• Spring Wild Edibles: Learn how to correctly identify some spring time edible and poisonous plants commonly found in Pennsylvania. We will also explore some traditional medicinal uses of these plants.  
• Stings, Spores and Spines: Learn about the toxic traits of PA’s poisonous, venomous and just plain irritating flora and fauna. 
• Tracks in the Snow: Learn how to identify some common wildlife tracks that might make an appearance in your yard in wintertime. 
• Utilizing Native Plants in your Landscape: This program explores the benefits to utilizing native plants in your landscape. Learn what native plants attract butterflies, bees, birds and other native wildlife and will look at basic design principles. 
• Utilizing iNaturalist for the City Nature Challenge: Learn how to make and upload observations on iNaturalist in order to participate in April’s international bioblitz, the City Nature Challenge.  
• Wonderful Woodcocks: Woodcocks, Timberdoodles or Bogsuckers, no matter what you call them, these are some of the most fascinating and adorable birds! 
• Wildflower Phenology: Learn about a community science endeavor that tracks seasonal changes in plants and animals through Nature’s Notebook. We’ll take a closer look at the data collected on some of the wildflowers at our local green space: Barking Slopes!  
• Winter Warriors: What amazing adaptations allow animals to survive harsh winters? Learn how local wildlife changes to meet winter’s demands. 
• Zombie Fungi!: Braaaiinns! What is an entomopathogenic fungus? Explore the wild world of fungi that takes over the bodies and brains of insects, controlling their behavior and making them into nature’s tiniest zombies.