David Catlin Consulting LLC

04/12/2026

The cost of new nature centers, like the cost of everything else, keeps going up. It varies immensely from project to project, of course, but here is one recent example: this new center in Rolling Hills Estates, California, is projected to cost $1,864 per square foot (including the design, construction management and furnishing costs) once it is completed next year.

A groundbreaking for the new 3,300-square-foot Nature Center at the George F. Canyon building was held recently in Rolling Hills Estates.

04/05/2026

Yesterday's Native Plant Sale at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center. The sale has been a more-or-less annual event for over 30 years. Long-time volunteers tell me that people used to show up with lots of questions. Now they show up with pre-order receipts and shopping lists. Folks are slowly learning about the value of planting native species!

03/23/2026

How and when did nature centers start as a "thing?" Who first came up with the idea? Here is a short early history. . . . https://davidcatlin.com/a-short-history-of-nature-centers/

03/17/2026

There was a time, perhaps 20 years ago, when it was an achievement for a nature center to earn LEED certification as acknowledgement of environmentally sound design. The bar was raised when facilities like the Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin, opened a net zero building and Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, achieved Living Building Challenge Petal Certification. Now I see that the new Wild Bear Nature Center in Nederland, Colorado, has "flipped the switch" on a solar array that will help make them a net-positive energy building, producing more energy than they use. Congratulations!

The Wild Bear Nature Center is nearing completion of a new net-positive, solar-powered campus.

03/06/2026

I'm always pleased when I see new nature centers being planned!

Volunteers at Apopka Birding Park spent a cloudy, damp morning spreading mulch, staking gopher tortoise burrows and clearing invasive plants as Orange Audubon Society moves closer to opening a nature center at the site.

02/01/2026

I enjoyed participating in the recent ANCA Virtual Summit (mentioned in my last post here). Most of what I talked about in the session I led is information I covered in an article for ANCA's "Directions" publication in 2024. If you missed the Summit presentation but are interested in the stuff I covered, click on the link to that article below. . . .

Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA) is a professional association dedicated to leaders in the nature and environmental learning center profession, including directors, managers, senior administrators and board members.

01/19/2026

I'm looking forward to presenting a session at this week's Association of Nature Center Administrators' "Virtual Summit." This is a screen shot from the last one I participated in--the COVID-inspired version held back in 2020!

06/20/2025

I made one other eye-opening stop last week in Philadelphia: the Discovery Center. When I was working for Audubon, it was just a concept--and a very complicated one at that, requiring a partnership involving Audubon, Philadelphia Outward Bound, and the City of Philadelphia, which owned the fenced, unused water reservoir that we envisioned as its centerpiece. The staff of what was then known as Audubon Pennsylvania pulled it off, though! Now it's a striking amenity in the middle of the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, just a short jog from the Art Museum steps made famous by "Rocky Balboa."

06/18/2025

Last week I had the chance to visit the John James Audubon Center outside of Philadelphia, a project I watched progress during my years with the National Audubon Society but didn't see completed during that tenure. The main visitor center opened several years ago, though, and it was inspiring to see it in action.

05/16/2025

I had the opportunity earlier this week to visit the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, operated by Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The centerpiece of the site is a set of springs that form the headwaters of the San Marcos river. Besides being a beautiful spot, the site harbors several endangered species. The Center operates five electric glass-bottom boats and does regular interpretive tours and educational programs. Well worth a visit if you are in Austin, San Antonio, or the Hill Country!

02/25/2025

This news article appeared back in September, but I just ran across it. It's a terrible tragedy and a cautionary tale all at once.

Northville city officials on Friday identified the boy as Declan Carter and said he was a sixth grader at Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in their community.