Our nature preserves are open to the public 365 days per year from sunrise to sunset, providing natural places that offer peace and respite for all. Willistown Conservation Trust owns and manages Hartman Meadow, Ashbridge, Kirkwood, Kestrel Hill and Rushton Woods Preserves. We maintain these lands to preserve and enhance … Learn more about our nature preserves.
ECOcentric Experience | Farming with Nature & Honey Bees
Rushton Farm Field Manager, Noah Gress, who is also one of the region’s preeminent beekeepers, will lead a fascinating discussion about honey bees — their roles within the hive as a super organism and their role within an agriculture system. Attendees will get to taste fresh honey and watch a live bee colony in an observation hive.
However, here at Rushton Farm, it is actually the native bees and other beneficial insects who do most of the heavy lifting in terms of pollination and pest control services. Community Farm Director, Fred de Long will lead us on a field tour of this rich, regenerative agricultural system, explaining the many ways Rushton Farm gives back to the surrounding natural biodiversity it preserves. This is farming for the future.
Accessibility: This program will take place partly indoors and seated (for the bee talk and honey tasting) and then will move outdoors for a light walk around the farm fields and greenhouse for the second half of the program.
This program is part of our ECOcentric Lecture Series for adults.
ECOcentric Experience | Get out of your head and into nature!
Spreading ecological awareness, fostering environmental literacy, and inspiring activation.
Ecocentric is defined as having a serious concern for environmental issues. It is a mindset that values the entire environment and all life within rather than only what is useful to humans. In other words, it is a deliberate shift toward the balance that can be achieved when we make nature our center rather than ourselves.
The human experience is heightened when we nurture our fundamental relationship with the earth. As we navigate a rapidly changing world, fighting ecological unconsciousness will be paramount to our success and sustainability as a species. Join us in this series as we learn more about the natural world and explore the actions we can all take at home to seek harmony with nature.
Through a variety of educational lectures and immersive field experiences with WCT staff and professionals, adults will gain a holistic foundation in four major conservation topics: birds and wildlife, regenerative farming, watersheds, and habitat stewardship. Students will gain a sense of ecological awareness and feel empowered to enact change in their own lives.
