Education Overview
Mission: To stimulate knowledge of, interest in, and an appreciation of natural history by providing extraordinary field-based educational opportunities within Pennsylvania and beyond.
Purpose: To create a more ecologically literate population and one that becomes increasingly engaged in the conservation of natural resources.
Business: To offer field-based educational programming in the areas of natural history and conservation of natural resources.
Values: The conservation ethic; conservation stewardship; interdisciplinary appreciation of natural history and the related aesthetic appreciation of our precious natural resources; field-based education.
Educational Philosophy
The Pennsylvania Institute for Conservation Education is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization. The PICE guiding philosophy to all instruction is that experience teaches best and takes a hands-on approach to learning in the field. We emphasize getting outdoors, learning in small groups, and celebrating your place through sciences, exploration, literature and the arts. The Institute offers direct learning experiences in the natural world to actively engage individuals in the understanding, conservation and stewardship of the natural environment that sustains our communities. Institute students’ learn skills that they can use to explore other places, including the environment of their own communities. We inspire people to discover, enjoy, appreciate and protect the wildlife, watersheds, fields, forests and wild landscapes of Pennsylvania ecosystems and beyond.
Education and the PICE Community
The comprehensive nature of PICE involves partnering with an array of leading conservation groups and individuals. Our instructors are scientists, field naturalists, ecologists, geologists, botanists, poets, photographers, educators, artists and writers. Through experiential field studies, PICE participants learn basic natural science concepts in such subjects as ecology, geology, ornithology, wildlife biology, botany, astronomy, natural resource management, and Pennsylvania natural history. We also cover topics ranging from arts and literature to history and outdoor skills.
Education Program Overview
PICE believes that people need intimate, informed contact with the natural world in order to value and conserve wild landscapes. Programs are field-based occurring throughout Pennsylvania’s eco-regions and offer academic, professional or personal benefits to students of all ages. Toward that end, these key themes are found in all of our programs:
- The convergence of natural and cultural history, science, literature and the arts
- Human history as integral to the history of landscapes and wild lands
- Exploration, reflection and stewardship through immersion in the out-of-doors
- Respect among people and the broader community of life
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