Ossining’s Teatown Preserve cut the ribbon on a new Environmental Science Center back in May, investing in the next generation of conservation leaders. The Teatown Environmental Science Center was made possible by a $500,000 renovation funded by a small group of committed individual donors and foundations.
With a wet lab that is specifically designed for the use of chemicals and other liquid hazards, a classroom, and a computer lab, the center is a state-of-the-art, 1,500 sq. ft. facility. Students can attend lectures, collect data, and process samples all on the preserve grounds, using the laboratory equipped with a fume hood (ventilation control system used for toxic fumes) and drying oven and the ADA-compliant upstairs classroom.
Teatown’s communications manager, Austin Schatz, adds, “There is nowhere else in Westchester where you have a lab space adjacent to a living laboratory.”
Open year-round, Teatown provides invaluable educational opportunities for upwards of 20,000 students and researchers annually, including through the Teatown Environmental Science Academy (TESA), an award-winning science-research program founded in 2012 for high school students interested in pursuing environmental research. Director of Environmental Stewardship Dr. Danielle Begley-Miller, who oversees TESA and other science programs run out of the center, will co-teach the TESA program with Pace University Clinical Associate Professor Michael Rubbo, PhD, marking the third year of partnership between Teatown Preserve and Pace.
“It’s a fantastic facility: You have the classroom component; you have the lab component, and you have the field component,” says Ruddo, “so you really can create a very well-rounded experience for students.”
The preserve’s 1,000 acres of land and 15 miles of hiking trails have been used for education, recreation, and research since 1963.
