Environmental Education Expo to return Feb. 8, 2025, to Montour Preserve with hands-on activities

The Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership, in coordination​​ with the Montour Area Recreation Commission and Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, will be hosting another Environmental Education Expo at the Montour Preserve on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The event will be modeled after the expo held in February of 2024, in which more than two dozen local agencies, associations and other groups that partner in the Vernal School effort provided hands-on educational booths at the preserve throughout the day for people to engage with at their own pace.

"A year ago, this event was a massive success, with families getting to interact with everything from drones to virtual reality to reptiles," said Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky. "Nature offers the perfect place to explore and spark creative problem solving in students of all ages, and the groups coming to this event will once again capture the essence of that in the experiments, games, crafts and other activities offered all over the educational center during the expo."

As with last year, teachers who attend the Environmental Education Expo​ on Feb. 8, 2025, will be able to file for Act 48 credit hours through the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit. 

The event will be held free of charge, but donations are encouraged to help cover costs. A food stand will be available with different options available for purchase. More details on these options will be shared soon. 
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Among those who are planning to attend include:

• Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association (hands-on beaver dam stream table experience) 
• Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership
• Montour Area Recreation Commission (maple sugaring scavenger hunt)
• Central PA Rock and Mineral Club (look-and-touch fossils)
• PA Fish and Boat Commission (herp display)
• Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit (interactive MWEE, climate, shared waters & engineering display)
• Pennsylvania Master Naturalists (birding experience)
• Columbia-Montour Visitor Bureau (tissue paper suncatchers)
• Susquehanna University's CEER (seed balls and macroinvertebrates)
• Montour County Master Gardeners (pine cone bird feeder)
• Bloomsburg Children's Museum (hands-on STEM activity)
• Seven Mountains Audubon Society (make and learn to use your own bird call)
• RB Winter Chapter of Trout Unlimited (kids fly-tying sessions)
• Author Alyssa Maddalena with Good Morning Susquehanna books 
• PA Association of Environmental Educators
• Wild Trout Man Fly Fishing Experience with videos of his adventures
• SeaScouts (Lego boat experiment and cookie sale)
• Lycoming College Clean Water Institute (Hellbender ecology and conservation)
• Eastern PA Coalition of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (3D virtual reality of an abandoned mine treatment system, activity sheets, how to read an underground mine map and trout puppet selfies)
• Rider Park
• Computer lab (Mapping the Narrative: Interactive experience with GIS story maps)
• Susquehanna Greenway Partnership (What do you need to pack - magnet activity boards for hiking, biking, camping, etc.)
• Pheasants Forever (Seed butterfly activity, pollinator-free sundae project, coloring sheets and more)
• Department of Environmental Protection
• Susquehanna Council Scouting BSA with hands-on activity and recruitment information
• Commonwealth University - Bloomsburg, Dinosaurs of Pennsylvania dinosaur footprint activity with paleontologist Dr. Jennifer Peteya
• Camp Louise Center for Outdoor Recreation and Education with outdoor camping-themed craft
• Homemade food will be available for purchase at reasonable prices by Good Wil's Restaurant, a big supporter of the Montour Preserve and Vernal School programming
• More groups are finalizing their plans and will be added to this list soon!

If you would like updates for the expo as we near the event, please fill out the following form. 

While this event is free to the public, your donation will help us cover costs and allow for future programming to continue to be offered at the Montour Preserve.