Outdoor Learning Space Design Workshop
2024-06-20 09:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Stroud Water Research Center, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA, 19311, United States
When: Thursday, June 20, 2024, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: The morning session and lunch will be at Stroud Water Research Center. The afternoon session will be a tour of nearby school sites with outdoor learning spaces.
Audience: Formal educators (classroom teachers, administrators, etc.) and non-formal educators (naturalists, environmental educators, conservation districts, etc.).
Act 48: Up to 6 hours.
Cost: FREE, including lunch.
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Come learn how to create an outdoor learning space where meaningful learning can happen while also benefiting water quality and wildlife habitat!
In the morning of this workshop, you will learn the basics of how to get started creating an outdoor learning space through these three sessions:
Best Practices for Outdoor Learning and Lessons: Tour the Stroud Center Education Department’s outdoor learning spaces to learn about best practices for teaching watershed education outdoors and receive example lessons that implement the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences framework.
Water Conservation: With a native plant expert from the White Clay Wild and Scenic River Program, we’ll walk the grounds of the Stroud Center’s campus and learn about conservation practices like rain gardens, permeable pavement, rain chains, and pollinator-friendly native plants that you can include on school grounds.
Getting Started: We’ll share tips for designing and getting to know your own schoolyard through planograms, Model My Watershed, and a schoolyard report card, as well as guidance on how to formalize your idea for a space at your school and gain buy-in from staff and administrators.
After the provided lunch, we’ll hop on a bus to tour several local and model school grounds, hearing directly from participating teachers (elementary to high school level) on their process and collaborative approach at all phases, from design and building, to lesson creation. Presenters will share tips on how to get started, funding outlets, lesson ideas, design tools, and successful ways of communicating with key staff in the district.
Learning Objectives
Participants will receive information about tools and resources available for outdoor learning space design and implementation.
Participants will learn about a successful model of increasing equitable access to meaningful outdoor learning spaces for teachers and their K–12 students through the design and access of these spaces.
Jump on in and join us! Questions? Please email the workshop co-instructor, Tara Muenz.
Presented in Partnership With

Algae, Algae, Everywhere
2024-06-10 18:00 - 20:00
Harmful Algal Bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie on September 25, 2017. Photo: Aerial Associates Photography, Inc. by Zachary Haslick, public domain
When: Monday, June 10, 2024. Doors open at 6 p.m. for light refreshments. Lecture begins at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Stroud Water Research Center, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311.
Cost: Free. Please RSVP so we can plan for refreshments.
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Laura Johnson, Ph.D., will explain the causes of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, why we need to be concerned about these blooms, and what we should do to prevent exposure to bloom toxins. In addition, we will examine:
How scientists forecast bloom severity in Lake Erie.
How activity on land has resulted in changes in the water quality of Lake Erie tributaries that feed these blooms.
What actions are being taken to improve water quality.
What individuals can do to help.
About Laura JohnsonLaura Johnson is director of the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University, which is known for its long-term monitoring of streams and rivers throughout the region. Results from this monitoring are used to forecast the algal blooms in Lake Erie, assess the primary sources of nutrient and sediment pollution in Ohio’s watersheds, and track the success of various land management strategies. The center is also monitoring an innovative pilot watershed approach to assess conservation practices in the headwaters of the Blanchard River and a portion of the wetlands in the H2Ohio Wetland Monitoring Program. Under her guidance since 2016, the lab continues to set the gold standard for research in nonpoint source pollution in watersheds.

2024 Joan and Dick Stroud Memorial Lecture
2024-05-15 18:00 - 20:00
When: Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Doors open at 6 p.m. for light refreshments; lecture begins at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Stroud Water Research Center, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311.
Cost: Free. Please let us know you’re coming so we can plan refreshments.
RSVP Now
Award-winning author and photographer Tim Palmer will present a slideshow based on his new book, Seek Higher Ground: The Natural Solution to Our Urgent Flooding Crisis, published by University of California Press.
With striking photos and engaging narrative, Palmer will explain how efforts to control floods through dam and levee construction have been, at best, inadequate, and how the endless cycle of floods, damage, recovery, and repeated losses can best be ended through the protection of open space on floodplains and through voluntary relocation of homes and businesses from hazard-prone areas. The author will show how the warming climate is making flood dangers worse, and how an improved response is essential if widespread disasters are to be avoided in the future.
See Tim Palmer’s work on his website.

Catch the Rain Workshop
2023-08-15 18:00 - 20:00
When: Tuesday, August 15, 2023 from 6–8 p.m.
Where: Stroud Water Research Center, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA, 19311.
Please note: This workshop is only open to property owners in White Clay Creek watershed.
Cost: Free. Registration is required.
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Learn How to Help White Clay Creek and Beautify Your Yard!
Join us to learn about the Catch the Rain Program and explore Stroud Water Resarch Center’s campus as we discuss conservation practices such as rain gardens, wildlife gardens, meadows, streamside forests, and more.
Learn how conservation practices improve water quality, reduce flooding, recharge wells, filter pollutants, reduce summer heat, and keep our water clean.
Gain tools to analyze your property and stormwater runoff, including Model My Watershed and others from the award-winning WikiWatershed Toolkit.
Presented by
