Environmental Education Centers

Students enjoy a sunny day at Clagett Farm. Photo by Kristi Carroll/CBF Staff

About CBF's Environmental Education Centers

Since 1973, CBF has provided outdoor and on-the-water environmental education experiences to more than 1.5 million students, teachers, and adults from across the watershed and beyond—more than any other environmental education program in the country. Our programs create an informed constituency for the Bay—people who understand their impact on the natural world and are willing to act to protect the Bay's wellbeing.

Whether students at CBF education centers are investigating the ecosystem via canoe, workboat, or tractor, participants become inspired, motivated, and eager to take an active role to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Meredith Creek at the Arthur Sherwood Environmental Education Center. Photo by CBF Staff

Arthur Sherwood Environmental Education Center

The Arthur Sherwood Environmental Education Center includes the resources of a fully equipped research vessel with the hands-on experience of flatwater canoes.  Students aboard the workboat Marguerite conduct biological sampling, test water quality, and dredge for oysters. Additionally, students explore the quiet shallower waters of Meredith Creek, identifying marine and plant species and evaluating water quality.

Find out more about CBF's Arthur Sherwood program.

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Meeting some cows at Clagett Farm. Photo by CBF Staff

Clagett Farm Environmental Education Center

CBF's 285-acre, organic working farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, provides both day and overnight education programs that foster in-depth discussions about agriculture's impact on the watershed. Exploring the farm by foot and hay wagon, or canoeing on the nearby Patuxent River, students gain true awareness of environmental issues to sharpen critical thinking skills and to practice problem solving.

Find out more about CBF's Clagett Farm one-day and residential education programs.

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Aerial view of Fox Island Environmental Education Center. Photo by CBF Staff

Fox Island Education Center

Built in 1929 as a hunting and fishing lodge, the center is surrounded by the waters of Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds in Virginia. Fox Island's location, history, and simplicity make it an educational—and magical—place. The center has Clivus Multrum composting toilets that use no water or chemicals. Solar panels provide electricity for a handful of lights, a refrigerator, and the "gray water" system. Participants see how a "green building" functions.

Find out more about CBF's Fox Island residential study program.

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Aerial view of CBF's Karen Noonan Environmental Education Center.  © David Hartcorn

Karen Noonan Memorial Environmental Education Center

The Karen Noonan Memorial Environmental Education Center is situated on 20 acres of marsh in southern Dorchester County, Maryland. Participants explore pine forests, underwater grass beds, and native oyster reefs that surround the center. The nearby Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest tidal wetlands on the East Coast, also provides opportunities from which to investigate this ecosystem.

Once one of the great Chesapeake hunting lodges, the Karen Noonan Center was completely renovated in 1995 to create an environmentally sound, state-of-the-art residential center. Participants in our program can see how a "green building," with its alternative energy sources and composting waste facilities, can function not only as a learning tool, but also as a home.

Find out more about CBF's Karen Noonan Center residential study program.

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Aerial view of the Phillip Merrill Environmental Center. Photo by CBF Staff

The Philip Merrill Environmental Center

Our education program at CBF's headquarters, the Philip Merrill Environmental Education Center in Annapolis, Maryland, makes use of an exceptional location between the shores of the Bay, the woods of Bay Ridge, the tidal marsh of Black Walnut Creek, and the local fields of tall native grasses. While experiencing the natural surroundings, students survey the flora and fauna that make up an ecosystem's biodiversity. The Merrill Center building itself is a model of 'green' architecture that helps students understand more about environmentally conscious building techniques.

Find out more about CBF's Philip Merrill Environmental Center program.

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Port Isobel Island Environmental Education Center. Photo by CBF Staff

Port Isobel Island Environmental Education Center

Port Isobel, referenced on nautical charts as East Point Marsh, is a 250-acre island east of Tangier Island, Virginia. It is the southernmost point between the Tangier Sound and the Chesapeake Bay proper. In the 1800s, it was inhabited by families from Tangier Island, but rising sea levels in the 1920s forced them to abandon their homes. The majority of the island was donated to CBF in the late 1980s, when it became one of CBF's five island education centers.

Find out more about CBF's Port Isobel Island residential study program.

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Students start on a canoe expedition from Smith Island. Photo by CBF Staff

Smith Island Environmental Education Center

Located within Tylerton—one of three watermen's communities on Maryland's Smith Island—this center emphasizes the culture and ecology of a Chesapeake fishing village. Steeped in Chesapeake lore and heritage, Smith Island is the largest inhabited offshore island in the Bay. Participants gain insight into island culture to better understand how the community has interacted with the Bay for more than 300 years. Extensive wetlands, underwater grass beds, oyster reefs, and forests are easily explored on foot and by canoe and workboat.

For the 2012 fall season, our Smith Island Education Program will be running field experiences at Port Isobel West.

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