Karen Noonan Memorial Environmental Education Program

Directions | Program Overview (PDF) | Information for Parents & Guardians

Program Capacity: 26 participants (grade 6 and above).

The Karen Noonan Memorial Environmental Education Program 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 Memorial Environmental Education 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.

The lodge has electricity, central air and heating systems, and Clivus Multrum composting toilets that use no water or chemicals. Facilities include dorm-style bedrooms, living room, dining room, outside porches, and full kitchen with a stove, microwave, refrigerator, and oven. Dorm facilities: two bedrooms with seven beds, six bedrooms with two beds. Boats include 10 canoes, a 21′ Carolina skiff; and the Karen N, a 40′ jet-drive U.S. Coast Guard inspected vessel.

Bring the watershed to life before and after your CBF Student Field Program using our curated list curriculum-based Resources for Teachers and Students.