The Adirondack Council will present its Conservationist of the Year Award to climate change educator and activist Jen Kretser and The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program during the Council’s Forever Wild Day celebration on July 9 at Paul Smith’s College, near Saranac Lake.
“Jen Kretser, the Youth Climate Program and The Wild Center are doing a fantastic job of educating our youth about the dangers of global climate change and what they can do to curb its impacts and prepare for the changes we can no longer prevent,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director William C. Janeway. “As Director of Climate Initiatives for The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, Jen manages the center’s climate change engagement programs, including the now-famous global Youth Climate Summits and broader Youth Climate Program.”
Posts Tagged ‘The Wild Center’
Adirondack Council’s Conservationist of the Year Award Goes to Jen Kretser and The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program
The Wild Center adds snowshoeing, kicksledding, and ice fishing to winter programming, continues to host Wild Lights exhibit
The Wild Center has recently announced a few additions to its winter programming including free snowshoe and kicksled rentals, guided ice fishing on its Greenleaf Pond and three ice sculptures which have been arranged around the campus. These experiences – and more – are available Fridays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with timed ticket reservations.
The Wild Center continues to host its Wild Lights exhibit presented by Merrill L. Thomas, Inc. on Friday and Saturday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m. when the 115-acre campus is transformed into a winter wonderland with thousands of dazzling lights. During the week of February 18- 26, The Wild Center will be open every day and will remain open in the evenings for guests to enjoy the Wild Lights exhibit.
The Wild Center to send delegation to U.N. climate talks in Scotland
When world leaders convene in Scotland for critical climate change negotiations later this month, The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program will be there.
The organization is sending a nine-person delegation to Glasgow for COP26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties. The Wild Center’s delegates will have a front-row seat as representatives from 197 countries seek solutions to mitigate ongoing effects of climate change.
Tupper Arts, Wild Center mark 50 years of Barney Bellinger’s art
Tupper Arts is excited to be collaborating with the Wild Center on joint shows that celebrate Barney Bellinger’s unique and authentic art pieces, all sourced and inspired by nature and our environment. It’s an honor for Tupper Arts to exhibit a collection that represents 50 years of Barney Bellinger’s original art and design masterpieces. These works range from Barney’s groundbreaking 1970’s rustic furniture that he infused with paintings, bamboo fly rods and guide boat yokes, to lighting fixtures of roots, copper, gold and glass, to tables of precious woods and hand-shaped metals. All art pieces in this collection will be for sale, and on view for the public to enjoy, July 1 – September 15, 2021, at Tupper Arts Center. Through April 22, 2022, visitors to The Wild Center will be able to view an exhibition of Bellinger’s sculptures in an outdoor setting. Visit the Wild Center and Tupper Arts Center, 5 minutes apart, to experience the vision, passion, and labor of an iconic Adirondack artist. Click here to read more about Bellinger and these two exhibits in the Adirondack Explorer. Artist Barney Bellinger and one of his sculptures. Photo provided by The Wild Center.
If you go
The Tupper Arts Center exhibition ends Sept. 15, but, shortly after, by October, a smaller, more minimalistic Bellinger exhibition will take its place, including new, steel sculpture furniture pieces, new paintings and new light fixtures.
The Forest Music Loop at the Wild Center will display “Welded Steel: Shape, Form and Light” through April 1, 2022.
Upcoming Events at the Wild Center
Tupper Lake, NY – The Wild Center is offering a wide variety of events this summer. Here are a few of the many activities available:
Celebrate Pollinator Week with Activities in the Adirondacks
AdkAction’s Adirondack Pollinator Project is pleased to announce the annual celebration of Pollinator Week, June 21-27, recognizing the invaluable role pollinators play in supporting biodiversity, food availability, and the economy.
An estimated one third of all foods and beverages is dependent on pollinators. In New York State alone, $350 million per year is accrued in services provided by bees and other pollinators. The work of pollinators ensures full harvests of crops and contributes to healthy plants everywhere. Vital pollinator populations are declining due to pesticide use, disease and parasite problems, and loss of food and nesting habitat.
Effects of climate change on birds in the Adirondacks

An upcoming presentation at 6:30 pm tonight via Zoom will focus on boreal species such as Black-backed Woodpecker, Olive-sided and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Canada Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Bicknell’s Thrush, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, and Blackpoll and Palm Warblers, among others, and their high and low elevation habitat. The presentation will utilize photographs, video, and audio of these iconic bird species of the Adirondacks, along with a few mammal species.
Pupdate: Wild Center releases rehabbed otters
The Wild Center has released two female North American River Otters to the Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station (a 15,000-acre biological field research station in the Western Adirondacks) after 5 months of rehabilitation.
The Otter Rehabilitation was as first for The Wild Center and began last May after receiving two phone calls from residents of separate areas within the North Country that had each spotted a five-week-old abandoned otter pup in the wild. Leah Valerio, Wild Center Curator and the rest of the Animal Care staff then worked with local veterinarian Dr. Nina Schoch to retrieve the otter pups and transport them to the Center’s Tupper Lake facility.
Youth-oriented events coming up at Wild Center
Homeschool Days
The Wild Center invite sHomeschool families and students learning at home to come visit at a special rate on the next two Wednesdays (September 30, and October 7). When registering for your timed tickets ahead of time simply enter the coupon code HOMESCHOOL2020 at check out for 50% off. Due to COVID-19 regulations, please visit as a family unit rather than a class/group.
Click here to make reservations and read the know before you go information.
These events are sponsored by Membership at The Wild Center. Click here to sign up
Youth Have Power Series
Starting tonight, join The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program for an exciting new event series – Youth Have Power: Plugging Into Climate Action. This isn’t your typical virtual event … it’s time to kick-off Youth Have Power! Join this event to meet some of the youth involved in planning Youth Have Power and hear what’s in store for the next few months. Most importantly, get inspired by two high-energy speakers, climate organizer John Paul Mejia and Director of Drawdown Learn, Dr. Elizabeth Bagley as they discuss the Project Drawdown roadmap to reversing climate change and the role youth can play in making it happen.
This event is open to the public and will be streamed on Facebook Live. Visit www.wildcenter.org/youth-have-power to learn more and register.
Wild Center set to reopen July 15
Starting July 15, The Wild Center natural history museum in Tupper Lake will be back in business with a phased reopening.
Starting with the Wild Walk and outdoor experiences, the museum will be implementing a limited capacity along with enhanced operational procedures and cleaning protocols.
To find more information and to reserve a spot visit this link.
To complete the Wild Center’s reopening survey visit this link.
Wild Center launches kids nature program

Registration Open for Climate Change Education Virtual Conference
Registration is now open for the Stay-In-stitute for Climate Change Education, a virtual conference for educators across the country. Hosted in partnership with Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Climate Program Office, and The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program. From July 22-24, the three-day training will provide educators with skills, tools and resources to teach climate change concepts and empower students in all subject areas.
Wild Center hosts climate change summit for teachers
The Wild Center is planning a virtual “Stay-In-stitute” for Climate Change Education.
Scheduled for July 22-24, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., the institute aims to bring together both middle and high school teachers from across the country and from a variety of disciplines, to engage in an active exploration of climate change, and the best educational practices related to it.
The Wild Center Goes Digital with Educational Online Offerings
As The Wild Center has temporarily suspended public operations in order to help curb the spread of COVID-19, the natural history museum for the Adirondacks is focusing on a digital experience over the coming weeks.
The digital offerings include virtual visits, which you can go on by clicking here, including seeing exhibits that are generally not open to the public. In-depth video content from the Wild Center Naturalists and the Animal Care Team will also be available for viewing.
Wild Center COP26 update from a youth delegate
The Wild Center has sent a 9-person delegation to Scotland for COP26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, as well as pre-COP26 events. The Wild Center’s delegates will have a front-row seat as representatives from 197 countries seek solutions to mitigate ongoing effects of climate change.
Here is an update from Day 1 from Silas Swanson. Silas is studying earth and environmental engineering and philosophy at Columbia University, where he is a senior. He is the founder and head coordinator for the Columbia Youth Climate Summit, and a member of the Youth Climate Program’s Advisory Board. Silas has also worked as a research assistant at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center. He also served as president of the Columbia International Relations Council and Association, and is a former student mentor for the Green Schools Alliance.
Pictured here: Silas speaks on a panel in the Blue Zone about the need to scale up Youth Climate Summits and their impact in order to meet the goals of COP26
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