Uber-urban South Philadelphia might seem an unlikely place to find the next generation of naturalists, environmentalists and outdoor aficionados. But over the past four years, Adam Forbes, founder and director of the Philadelphia-based nonprofit Discovery Pathways, has done exactly that. After early career stops working with migrants, secondary school students and English language learners, Forbes
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It’s a balmy day in late August, but the Mycopolitan Mushrooms grow room feels more like a forest floor in mid-October. A thick mist sprays from the ceiling, casting a glowy haze across shelves filled with blooming oyster mushrooms, lion’s mane and a handful of other exotic species. Pennsylvania is home to the majority of
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On an April morning, Nick Macelko was scouring the Assunpink Creek in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It was a successful search. He found an acuminate crayfish (Cambarus acuminatus) on the creek bottom. “You can tell because he has that rostrum [part of the head that projects forward] that doesn’t have little spines on it. Cool.”
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In 2023, Cheltenham-based artist Rebecca Schultz completed a yearslong art project, “Mapping Our Watershed,” by stitching together tree bark rubbings, monotypes, soil-water watercolors, leaf prints, drawings and other media to construct a map of Cheltenham and the Tacony watershed. In total, more than 60 people contributed 90 pieces of artwork to make up this textural,
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I parked my bike at nine in the morning on a heat-dome summer day and walked down the path into the University of Pennsylvania’s James G. Kaskey Memorial Park (better known as the BioPond). Under the tree canopy I immediately felt cooler after my sweaty bike ride. I paused to admire a stately American elm
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Red-eared sliders are turtles that make bad pets, but that doesn’t stop them from being sold to people who don’t know better. They start off as cute hatchlings, but they can live 40 years and grow as large as dinner plates, at that point needing way more space than the usual aquarium. Ill-prepared owners often
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In nature there is always something to discover. Maybe you’ll encounter a species living somewhere it has never been documented, perhaps an unexpected crayfish in a creek. What else could be swimming in there? You could find a chestnut tree growing strong where others are afflicted. Could that tree hold answers for how to overcome
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There are a lot of materials in our lives — from fabric to furniture to fire extinguishers — that can find continued usefulness outside of the waste stream. That’s the idea behind resourcePhilly (resourcephilly.org), a new website that helps residents figure out where to donate, repair and recycle unwanted items responsibly. Created by Circular Philadelphia,
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Fifty minutes before the first pitch at a Friday night Phillies game in early June, the line at Greens and Grains already wrapped around and down the concourse at Citizens Bank Park. Looking on, Kevin Tedesco, Aramark’s general manager at Citizens Bank Park, and Jason Firestone, Aramark’s senior director of concessions, shared the story of
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For a quarter of a century, PA Cyber alums have been making an impact in Pennsylvania and beyond. Graduates from every county in the commonwealth have chosen this cyber school as a foundation for their lifelong plans. We’ve had students like pop star Sabrina Carpenter, “Dance Moms” alum Nia Sioux, and country singer Gabby Barrett.
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