Events – Page 18 – Nature Discovery Center

Swift Night Out – St. Paul’s UMC

2018-07-09 Maura Denman

Join us for our family-friendly ‘Swift Night Out’ events in the fall. Watch chimney swifts swoop and soar over their roosts and then count them as they enter their chimneys. Mark your calendars to come help us with this citizen science project to document the numbers of chimney swifts migrating through Houston.

What to bring: A folding chair if you prefer to sit, and mosquito repellent! Binoculars are optional (the swifts are visible with the naked eye as they enter the chimney).

Swift Night Out at St. Paul’s UMC

Co-sponsored by the Nature Discovery Center, Houston Audubon Society, and St. Paul’s UMC.

Date: Tuesday, August 27
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: St. Paul’s UMC – 1131 Binz St.
The event and parking will be in the lot on the east side of the church, entrance off of Binz/Bissonnet.

Houston Snake ID Workshop

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Houston Snake Identification Workshop

Sunday, July 15 at 2 – 3:30 pm

Ages: 14+

Join Naturalist Eric Duran for an adult level workshop about the basic biology and identification of common snakes of the Houston area. We will also make sure to emphasize the identification and life histories of the 6 species of venomous snakes of the area. The presentation will include live snakes, and be followed with a guided reptile hike.

Cost: $15/person

Advance registration required. Register here

This event is part of our new Adult Nature Series, a set of talks, workshops, and events for adults that will include quarterly adult only evening hikes, talks, and socials, as well as weekend natural history workshops. It will be interesting, educational, and a lot of fun! Space is limited to ensure a high quality experience for all.

Mud Day Celebration

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Mud Day Celebration!

Saturday, June 30 from 10 am to 12 pm

Come prepared for a marvelously muddy good time as we celebrate International Mud Day in our Nature Play Area. Whether you wallow in the mud, stomp in it, paint with it, build with it, or simply make make mud pies, you’re sure to have a great time.

Wear old clothes and bring a beach towel. You can hose down after the fun!

This is a drop-in event. If you know you plan to come with a large group of more than 6 people, please call us at 713.667.6550 to let us know. Thanks!

Park After Dark: Spiders in the Park

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Spiders in the Park with Cletus Lee

June 22 at 8 pm

Join spider expert Cletus Lee for a brief presentation, followed by a fun and informative night hike, where we will learn and encounter some species of spider found in Russ Pitman Park.

These night “hikes” are perfect for adults and children ages 4 and up. All children must be accompanied by a paying adult attendee.

Cost (same for adults and children): Member $8/person or Nonmember $10/person

Reservation are required — Register here

What to Bring: Mosquito repellant and a flashlight (for adult use only)
Note: Please do not leave valuables in your car. The Center is not responsible for any unattended items left in vehicles in our parking lot.

Groups: If you would like us to lead a nighttime walk for your group of 5 to 15 people, please contact us at 713.667.6550 to discuss possible arrangements.

Meet the Animals – Insects & Spiders

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Sunday, June 17 at 2 pm

Get to know insects and spiders with up close and personal animal encounters! Each family-friendly Meet the Animals session includes: hands-on exposure to live animals and/or specimens, an informal discussion about the animal’s basic biology and behavior, and a Q/A period with one of our Staff Naturalists.

Cost: $10/family paid at the door

This is a drop in program. Call 713.667.6550 if you plan to come in a large group of 6 or more.

Outdoor Leader Camp

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Outdoor Leader Camp **New Camp for Ages 11 – 13**

July 16 – 20

Days & Times: Monday – Friday from 9:00am – 3:30pm

Cost: $250/wk members or $320/wk non-members

Optional After Care until 5:30pm each day for an added fee of $60/week or $15/day.

Advanced registration is required. Limit 10 kids. Register here

Develop your outdoor leadership skills through this new day camp program. Learn to build a camp fire, read a map, work as a team to overcome challenges, identify poison ivy, teach games to younger kids, build forts, hold our nature center animals, and more!

What to Bring

Daily – Kids bring lunches and water bottles. We provide snacks.

Family Nature Night – Snakes of Texas

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Family Nature Nights are packed with experiential learning, opportunities for creative expression, and exposure to the natural world through live animal interactions and nature walks.

Select Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 pm

Activities begin with themed crafts and fun snacks at 6:30 pm, followed by a brief nature walk before a 7:00 pm presentation by a kid-friendly speaker. We wrap things up at 8:00 pm.

** NOTE: NEW POLICIES THIS SUMMER **

Cost: $5/person ages 2+ (including adults). All children above age 2 must be registered and must be accompanied by a paying adult attendee for these family events. And all adults in your party must be registered/paid as well.
Advance registration is required. Limit 50 people. Register here

August 8 – Snakes of Texas with Gina Distledorf, East Texas Herpetological Society

Discover the lives and habits of common snakes from the Houston area. We will learn about the venomous and non-venomous snakes that you may encounter where you work, live, and hike. There will be a lot of interesting stories, and a chance to encounter and touch live local snakes.

Gina Distledorf has a love for reptiles and amphibians, and is on the Board of Directors and Education Chair for the East Texas Herpetological Society. She has been rehabilitation injured and orphaned animals with the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition since 1996.

Family Nature Night – Freaky Frogs

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Family Nature Nights are packed with experiential learning, opportunities for creative expression, and exposure to the natural world through live animal interactions and nature walks.

Select Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 pm

Activities begin with themed crafts and fun snacks at 6:30 pm, followed by a brief nature walk before a 7:00 pm presentation by a kid-friendly speaker. We wrap things up at 8:00 pm.

** NOTE: NEW POLICIES THIS SUMMER **

Cost: $5/person ages 2+ (including adults). All children above age 2 must be registered and must be accompanied by a paying adult attendee for these family events. And all adults in your party must be registered/paid as well.
Advance registration is required. Limit 50 people. Register here

July 11: Freaky Frogs with Eric Duran, Nature Discovery Center

Nature Center Naturalist Eric Duran will show us the various common frogs of the Houston area, and talk about their lives and habits. We will also learn their calls, and try to make some frog calls. There will be live animals to touch, as we learn more about the biology of frogs and other amphibians

Eric is our primary educator, teaching the preschool Curious Kids classes, the Junior Scientists elementary classes, and developing unique classes for home school groups in addition to leading Nature at Your Doorstep field trip investigations, and developing the Discovery Room exhibits. Eric has been an environmental educator and naturalist at Armand Bayou Nature Center, the Houston Zoo, Moody Gardens, Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in southern Florida, and Sacha Lodge on the Napo River in Ecuador. He has fieldwork experience with Sea Turtles, Amphibian Call Counts, Sharks, Shorebirds, Forest Birds, nest box surveys, and King Eider on the Arctic Tundra of Alaska.

Family Nature Night – Living in Space

2018-05-21 Maura Denman

Family Nature Nights are packed with experiential learning, opportunities for creative expression, and exposure to the natural world through live animal interactions and nature walks.

Select Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 pm

Activities begin with themed crafts and fun snacks at 6:30 pm, followed by a brief nature walk before a 7:00 pm presentation by a kid-friendly speaker. We wrap things up at 8:00 pm.

** NOTE: NEW POLICIES THIS SUMMER **

Cost: $5/person ages 2+ (including adults)
Advance registration is required. Limit 50 people. Register here

June 13: Living in Space with Lisa Shore, NASA

Lisa Shore will talk to us about what it’s like to train for and then live and work in space onboard the International Space Station. Part of working in space includes taking occasional spacewalks to maintain the space station or support science experiments. It’s not as easy as it looks in the movies. She’ll explain the parts of the US spacesuit, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), what it really takes to get your space suit ready to go out the hatch, and what makes spacewalks so challenging. There will be a full size training version of the EMU for demonstration purposes. Audience members will have the opportunity to touch and get pictures of real space suit hardware.

Lisa Shore works in the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) at the Johnson Space Center and has over 30 years of experience in human spaceflight operations. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. Ms. Shore started working at JSC immediately after graduation designing launch windows for Space Shuttle missions. She then moved into real-time operations in the Mission Control Center (MCC) and was responsible for the Shuttle trajectory as a Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO). Ms. Shore was the first and only woman to certify as an Ascent FDO for the launch phase of Shuttle flight. In 2000, she joined the FOD Extravehicular Activities (EVA), or Spacewalk, group where she trained astronauts and supported MCC operations of the US spacesuit and the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) airlocks. She was the lead Spacewalk Officer for the STS-132 shuttle mission and several ISS expeditions. She is currently the FOD EVA Chief Engineer working on the design of a new US spacesuit to support NASA’s plan for a Deep Space Gateway in orbit around the moon.

iNaturalist Training

2018-04-23 Maura Denman

NDC Staff Naturalist Eric Duran will lead a drop-in training session to introduce people to the iNaturalist community and how they can use the iNaturalist app during the City Nature Challenge and all year round to report wildlife sightings and to identify species.

The training session will be from 4 – 5 pm, but Eric says you can drop in at any time during that hour.

Before you come: download the iNaturalist app on your phone, create your iNaturalist account, and log in.

Helpful iNaturalist “How To” PDF

Events Listing

Swift Night Out – St. Paul’s UMC

Houston Snake ID Workshop

Mud Day Celebration

Park After Dark: Spiders in the Park

Meet the Animals – Insects & Spiders

Outdoor Leader Camp

What to Bring

Family Nature Night – Snakes of Texas

Family Nature Night – Freaky Frogs

Family Nature Night – Living in Space

iNaturalist Training

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iNaturalist Training