Biophilia Center to open in September

[Teresa]

The EO Wilson Biophilia Center at Nokuse Plantation is scheduled to open Sept. 12.
The Biophilia Center, the first of its kind in the world, is an environmental education facility serving students, teachers and professional audiences. Its mission is to educate visitors on the importance of biodiversity, to promote sustainable balanced ecosystems, and to encourage conservation, preservation and restoration.

Visitors at the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center will have an opportunity to learn about the natural environment through interpretive exhibits as well as an extensive trail system through natural areas undergoing ecological restoration on the nature preserve. In addition, this facility will be promoted as a gathering place for local and regional scientists to conduct ecological research and participate in symposia that disseminate this research to the public. By offering weeklong curriculum that coincides with the Florida Sunshine State Standards, our young citizens will have a better understanding and knowledge for science portions of the FCAT, while promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) subjects, and providing opportunities for inquiry, investigation and innovation so that in long-term we all may become better stewards during our journey on this planet.

E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center at Nokuse Plantation

Emerald Coast Magazine: take a walk on the wild side (article)

EO Wilson Biophilia Center - booklet

Nokuse Plantation
Nokuse Plantation is a 48,000 acre private conservation initiative in the Florida Panhandle conceptualized and funded by M. C. Davis and Sam Shine.

Nokuse the Bear making his way into the exhibit hall

NWF Daily News (article about Biophilia Center, video)
Biophilia Center to open in September (with VIDEO)

Tom McLaughlin
2009-06-06 17:54:50
FREEPORT - M.C. Davis believes he can change the world by giving kids a chance to pick up turtles in the woods. And when he opens the E. O. Wilson Biophilia Center at his Nokuse Plantation, that's exactly what he wants to see. "The theme here is learning while you're having fun. We expect them to learn almost through osmosis," Davis said during a recent tour of the center. "If kids leave here feeling like a little bit of a naturalist, that may go dormant, but when you are a mayor or a governor ... maybe you'll remember. "I think it will manifest itself, I really do. I'm betting my life's work on it."

Construction of the 28,500- square-foot center, built at a cost of about $12 million, is "basically" complete. Crews will begin setting up the exhibits next week, according to Christy Scally, the center's director. "We're still on target for a grand opening Sept. 12," she said.

The center, located off State Road 20 east of Freeport, will be the first of its kind in the world, Davis said, and has drawn interest from as far away as France. A film crew from that country visited recently and filmed a documentary, Scally said.

When the center opens, it will cater initially to fourth-graders, Scally said. School officials from Walton and Bay counties already have signed up to bring students. Curriculums also are being put together for seventh-graders and high school students, she added. Okaloosa County schools have expressed interest in sending students, too. But budget issues have prevented the school district from pledging full support, Davis said. "I think it will give students a real life experience they couldn't get in a classroom setting," said Mark Gardner, who as Walton County's facilities director, has been close to the Biophilia Center construction since its inception.
Glassed-in to give visitors a feel of being outside even when they're inside, the center will feature exhibits designed by scientists with a focus on "things we need to teach the next generation," Scally said.
For example, the scientist designers saw the need to give students an understanding of pollinators and the importance of pollination in the food chain.
"A large majority of our food comes to us as a result of the pollination process," Scally said. To demonstrate that in a way to capture students' attention, the designers decided to build an actual bee hive into the wall of the Biophilia Center. Bees will be able to come and go as they please from a hive entrance that opens on the outside while visitors can observe the inner workings of the hive.

Still another exhibit features piano keys on the floor. When children step on the keys, they'll make animal noises. That will allow students to identify the animals they hear outside, Scally said.

A theater that seats 200 will be used for entertainment and education, she said.

Another priority for the designers was to come up with a way to explain the importance of the long leaf pine ecosystem, Scally added. That mission will be accomplished with exhibits and tours of Nokuse Plantation. Forests of old growth long leaf pine dominated the landscape of Northwest Florida before the trees were decimated during the 1800's and early 1900's to make room for development. Davis' plantation encompasses 48,000 acres in Walton County and he's devoted to restoring the long leaf pine ecosystem on his property. "It's a 300-year project," boasts Matt Aresco, Nokuse Plantation's director. "We've replanted 7 million long leaf pines."

Aresco said he's also working to restore wire grass to the area. "When you have wire grass and long leaf, it's usually an indication of a healthy ecosystem," he said.

Alongside all of the exhibits, Davis and his crew have developed a nature walk so students can observe the forested plantation.

Davis quietly has acquired land near Freeport for years. He has managed to establish, he said, "the largest private wilderness in Florida." Nokuse (the Creek Indian word for bear) Plantation also is important because it is a "linchpin," Davis said, that connects Eglin Air Force Base's reservation and other wilderness areas to the Choctawhatchee State Wildlife Management Area and points east. Davis said he sees his conservation effort as "the first chance in over a century" to do what he's done. He said he hopes others will build centers such as the Biophilia Center. Students are the hope for the future of conservation, he said. "In the overall scheme of things this doesn't mean much. I hope this is popular and this idea spreads out and creates ripples everywhere," he said. "Then maybe we'll have a chance to save the planet."

 

[momof2kids]

I was just looking through their website for an open date, as well as hours of operation. Thanks for posting!

 

[Teresa]

I was just looking through their website for an open date, as well as hours of operation. Thanks for posting!

The more I read about the new Biophilia Center, the more it just blows me away that we have this kind of conservation resource right up the road in Freeport!

more information about a workshop on November 5, 2009 at the EO Wilson Center.

Eric Draper, Deputy Director of the Florida office of the National Audubon Society will be keynote speaker at the Environmental Forum on November 5, 2009 at E.O. Wilson Center.

Forum workshops include:

• Integrated garden design – Chandra Hartman and Frank Green
• Permaculture and Modalities of Organic Gardening – Kat McCrite & John Kratt
• Vermiculture - Arix Zalace
• Good Bugs, Bad Bugs – Sheila Dunning
• Construction of Spiral Herb Garden – Susan and Peter Horn (hands on)
• Rain Barrel construction – Eddie Powell
• Becoming a Locavore – Kendra Zamojski
• Green Smoothies and Eating Organic– Jennifer Kuntz
• Hydroponic Farming – Jen and Andy McAlexander

Registration and invitations will go out the end of September.
Space is limited and registration will be first come first serve.

contact: Vicki Kitahara, Beaches of South Walton TDC
850-267-1216 ext 121
www.beachesofsouthwalton.com

 

[jhanes]

What's the deal with the bear in the photo? Is he a wild bear in the area, or one in captivity at the center?

 

[Rita]

Thanks for sharing this Tootsie!

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[Walton Outdoors]

I was just looking through their website for an open date, as well as hours of operation. Thanks for posting!

Unfortunately the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center will not be open to the general public. It is an educational facility that will be providing hands on learning in a classroom and outdoor format for educators and their students. Here is a related story:
Biophilia | Welcome to Walton Outdoors

 

[Walton Outdoors]

What's the deal with the bear in the photo? Is he a wild bear in the area, or one in captivity at the center?

The black bear is not alive, it was donated to the Center and will be part of the indoor exhibit along with other fauna and flora in the massively beautiful exhibition hall.

 

[Teresa]

2009 Beaches of South Walton Environmental Forum - Nov 5 @ EO Wilson Biophilia Center

2009 Environmental Forum.
the following information is repeated from above post, with addition of art/poster.

Eric Draper, Deputy Director of the Florida office of the National Audubon Society will be keynote speaker at the Environmental Forum on November 5, 2009 at E.O. Wilson Center.

Forum workshops include:

• Integrated garden design ? Chandra Hartman and Frank Green
• Permaculture and Modalities of Organic Gardening ? Kat McCrite & John Kratt
• Vermiculture - Arix Zalace
• Good Bugs, Bad Bugs ? Sheila Dunning
• Construction of Spiral Herb Garden ? Susan and Peter Horn (hands on)
• Rain Barrel construction ? Eddie Powell
• Becoming a Locavore ? Kendra Zamojski
• Green Smoothies and Eating Organic? Jennifer Kuntz
• Hydroponic Farming ? Jen and Andy McAlexander

Registration and invitations will go out the end of September.
Space is limited and registration will be first come first serve.

contact: Vicki Kitahara, Beaches of South Walton TDC
850-267-1216 ext 121
www.beachesofsouthwalton.com

 

[Smiling JOe]

What's the deal with the bear in the photo? Is he a wild bear in the area, or one in captivity at the center?

Nokuse means "Black Bear" in the Creek Indian language. Nokuse Plantation is the official name of this conservation initiative, which is home to the E O Wilson Biophilia Center. Hence, the black bear at the entrance. I just hope that a second one doesn't show up and people entering the building think that it is fake.

 

[Teresa]

Nokuse means "Black Bear" in the Creek Indian language. Nokuse Plantation is the official name of this conservation initiative, which is home to the E O Wilson Biophilia Center. Hence, the black bear at the entrance. I just hope that a second one doesn't show up and people entering the building think that it is fake.

the one in the pic looks pretty real. but it was noted that it was on its way to the exhibit hall. someone must have posed him out in the grass for a photo opp.