Here you will find the latest information about Irvine and the many exciting things happening here. For more information, please check the Media Center or contact
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, Director of Marketing and Communications, at 443-738-9230.
We look forward to welcoming your camper for Summer Nature Camp 2010! Click here to view a brochure with more information. Register your child today!
This time of year, during summer camp enrollment, parents ask us a lot of questions that we are all too willing to answer. They want to know about camp fees, activities their children can engage in, and new offerings for Summer Nature Camp. But the larger question that they are seeking an answer to is – “Why should I send my child to Summer Nature Camp at Irvine in the first place? What makes our camp different from the many camp invitations I receive in the mail each year?“
If you are sending your child to camp for the first time this year, you may not be able to answer these questions until after he/she either begins or finishes up their camp experience. But you will surely find clues in the effect the experience has on your camper. Perhaps you will be amazed about the impact on your camper’s knowledge of creatures of the natural world. Maybe their ability to recall the names of native species of plants and animals will intrigue you. You may be surprised by your child’s ability to tell you the difference between reptiles and amphibians or their ability to translate those characteristics into original art.
No matter your child’s various fascinations with camp this year, you will find one commonality in the details. While exploring the natural world, making new friends, and having fun hiking, biking and canoeing, or creating art projects, enjoying puppet shows, and more; your child will discover his or her own connection with other living beings of the natural world. And before you know it, your child will understand how his or her own small actions can have a big impact on the natural world. And you will find that while having fun at Irvine, your child has unwittingly become a steward of the environment.
We look forward to welcoming your camper for Summer Nature Camp 2010! Click here to view a brochure with more information. Register your child today!
Robert Mardiney
Director of Education
Irvine Nature Center
Irvine Nature Center is enrolling now for Summer Nature Camp 2010 to take place from June 14th – August 27th. The 11 week camp season will allow more than 600 children to choose from 43 camp sessions while having the opportunity to learn about Maryland’s ecology and natural history by exploring the woodlands and wetlands, meadows and streams at Irvine as well as other locations around the State.
This year, summer camp has been expanded to include more sessions, multi-week options, and before and after camp care. Campers ages 2 to 15 are invited to attend. Camp sessions range in price from $90 to $375 for members ($110 to $420 for non-members).
Exciting new camp topics will debut this year like: Sensing Nature, Creatures Large and Small, Green Thumbers, Feet, Wings and More, Junior Naturalists, Nature Detectives, Amazing Adaptation and Young Scientists. A new camp, Teen Adventure camp, will offer adventurous 13 to 15 year olds a week of paddling, caving, rock climbing and back packing.
For more information on Summer Nature Camp 2010 at Irvine Nature Center, call Education Administrative Assistant, Courtney Sagal, at 443-738-9224. You may also e-mail her at
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. Click here to download a brochure and here to download a registration form.
Give the Gift of Environmental Education This Holiday Season
Irvine Nature Center is pleased to offer two exciting opportunities for you to give the gift of environmental education to friends and loved ones this holiday season!
The Gift of Membership to Irvine Nature Center secures more opportunties for your friends and loved ones to explore nature all year long! We encourage you to to give this gift knowing that it allows the recipient access to more than 500 programs offered annually here at Irvine at a reduced cost, and more. Purchase a gift membership today, and receive an Irvine Nature Kit to give to the recipient of the membership, or to keep!
For a full listing of benefits of membership to Irvine and more details on how to purchase a gift membership, click here.
The gift of a session of our new Irvine Institute for Environmental Education will also keep giving all year long. We encourage you to consider giving your nature enthusiast one of our upcoming winter sessions:
Winter Tree Ecology and Identification
The Principles of Ecology
The Owls and Woodpeckers of Maryland
Introduction to Environmental Education
And we encourage you to explore our spring sessions as well:
The Fascinating World of Maryland's Native Plants
Wetland Ecology
Beekeeping Short Course
Bird Ecology
For more information on the Irvine Institute for Environmental Education, including a brochure with registration form, click here.
Purchase Green Gifts in our Nature Store this Holiday Season
The Irvine Nature Store is the perfect place for your holiday shopping! Below please find gift ideas for the nature enthusiast on your shopping list! (Purchase jewelry or binoculars in the nature store between now and December 25, receive 25% off your purchase!)
Bestsellers at the Nature Store: Goody bags - a hand painted burlap bag filled with treasures that include a twig pencil, a nature sticker book and a bag of tumbled, colorful rocks. These are great for parties or stocking stuffers - all for $5.95
The Classic Squirrel Proof Feeder from Brome Birdcare is our best selling bird feeder. We agree with our customers - it really works! - $45.00 Klean Kanteens - we are your local resource for this very popular alternative to plastic water bottles. - $15.95 - $27.95
Bambo Kitchen Composter - is thoughtfully designed with a dishwasher safe removable liner for easy cleaning, dual charcoal filters in the lid to prevent odors, and a large comfortable handle for carrying the pail to the compost bin. - $39.00
New Arrivals: Galvanized Locking Lid Trash Cans - perfect for storing birdseed! - $19.95
Droll Yankee Ring Pull Tube Feeder - NEW AND FRESH IDEA! Clean is good - now it's easier than ever to give songbirds just what they need - fresh food from a clean, hygienic feeder. This is the easiest feeder to clean that we have ever seen! - $36.00 - $46.00
Garden Angels Sets for the gardener in your life - includes a weeding set, a plant and grow set or a glove and trowel set - they are packaged beautifully and make great gifts! - $26.00 - $48.00
Consider the items above and others at the Irvine Nature Store this holiday season. We now have a gift registry and a frequent buyers club - sign up today! We strive to offer only the best because we appreciate your business. For more information on these gift items or many of the others we feature, call Store Manager,
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at 443-738-9217.
Irvine Nature Center Announces NEW Irvine Institute for Environmental Education
OWINGS MILLS, MD (November 24, 2009) – Irvine Nature Center, the nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire appreciation and respect for the natural world, announces the Irvine Institute for Environmental Education, a new series of continuing education courses for adults interested in natural science, ecology and environmental education. These continuing education courses provide an excellent opportunity to learn about a wide variety of environmental education topics in greater depth. Courses offered beginning with the winter session, which begins on January 14th, run through March. The spring semester will begin in March and run through May.
Recommended for beginning and intermediate learners, the Irvine Institute for Environmental Education these courses include both classroom and outdoor instruction taught by Irvine staff and other experts in the field, and are designed to promote environmental literacy and a greater understanding and appreciation for the natural world. Classes being offered during the Winter/Spring sessions of the Institute include: Winter Tree Ecology and Identification, Principles of Ecology, The Owls and Woodpeckers of Maryland, Introduction to Environmental Education, The Fascinating World of Maryland’s Native Plants, Introduction to Avian Biology and Ecology, and Beekeepers Short Course. Courses will be taught by Robert Mardiney, Irvine Nature Center’s Director of Education; Dr. Sarah Haines, Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Towson University; Dr. Mark Johnson, senior Wildlife Toxicologist with the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine; Peter Martin, School Programs Manager at the Maryland Zoo; Steve Mc Daniel, certified master beekeeper and award-winning nature photographer; and Dr. Charles Stine, Sc.D, environmental consultant and founder of BioTrek Naturalists, Inc. Irvine Nature Center will award a Certificate of Achievement to participants who complete more than 100 hours of class time (approximately 7 courses).
“We are thrilled to offer this exciting new opportunity to provide quality environmental education for adults interested in becoming students of natural history and learning more about plants, animals and ecology native to Maryland,” said Irvine Executive Director, Rob Mardiney. “As individual students achieve their own goals to learn more about environmental education, we will continue to uphold our own mission of inspiring appreciation and respect for the natural world through their educational experiences with us.”
For more information on the Irvine Institute for Environmental Education, please contact Courtney Sagal at 443-738-9224 or email her at
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. To download an Irvine Institute for Environmental Science brochure, please visit our website www.ExploreNature.org.
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Founded in 1975, Irvine Nature Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental education. The Center is located at 11201Garrison Forest Road in Owings Mills, MD. Call 443-738-9200 or visit www.ExploreNature.org for more information.
Irvine News 
