Meet the New Staff! (3/13/2026)

Hannah, our new Development Manager, has worked in fundraising for 5+ years and loves advocating for nature, art, and animals. They graduated from Hamline University in St.Paul, Minnesota in 2020, and found their way to Louisville, Kentucky in 2022 where she fell in love with our local green spaces including the Louisville Nature Center. When she's not connecting people to our mission, she can be found boxing, swimming, baking, crocheting, or relaxing with her sweet rescue dog Boba.

Our new Administrative Assistant, Cynthia, was an intern at the Louisville Nature Center during the summers of 2022 and 2023 where she was inspired by the work done and the incredible people working here. She graduated from Ohio University in 2025 with a bachelors in Environmental Science and Sustainability and a certificate in Wealth and Poverty. She is very excited to return to the Louisville Nature Center post-graduation in her new role! Cynthia is passionate about equitable, accessible, and sustainable nature and strives to make a difference in her community. In her free time, she enjoys sewing, birding, hiking, and baking!

Don't Let the Rain Dampen Your Mood (3/6/2026)

The forecast for the coming days shows more rain, but don’t let that ruin your fun! Rainy days present an opportunity for new exploration of the world around us! One of our educators, Elaine, shared some tips on ways to make the best of a rainy day.

- Make Mud Pies or play and dig in the mud: don’t be afraid to get your or your little one’s hands dirty! You might even find some crawly critters hiding along the way. 

-Splash in puddles: nothing says childhood whimsy like jumping in a puddle.

- Look for frogs, toads, and salamanders: rain creates moist conditions ideal for our amphibian friends that might otherwise be hard to find. 

- Look for tadpoles: spring is tadpole season, check out shallow water near you to get a peek at these young ones.  

- Make Nature "soup" with rain water and natural materials: there’s never a bad time to make a potion and a surplus of water sure helps with concocting it. Collect sticks, rocks, flowers, leaves, and whatever you choose and get to brewing! 

- Flip logs and rocks over to look for worms and other crawly things: many crawly critters thrive in moisture and like to hide. Take some time to explore where they may be hiding, but make sure to put everything back where you found it. 

- Go on a mushroom hunt: fungi typically grow in shady, moist, nutrient rich environments. Use this opportunity to learn how fun they really are!

- Observe running water: The velocity of moving water changes with rain, see how the water near you has been impacted by this wet spell. 

- Make leaf boats and send them down the creek: have a race and see whose boat wins. See what you can do to make your boat faster!

- Listen to rain "music": How does it sound when it hits different things? You can even buy a tongue drum and set it out in the rain.

- Take a "scent walk": Go on a walk and observe all the smells of the earth that are stronger in the rain (Smell that onion grass??) 

- See how much rain water you can collect in a pot or a bowl: Set out a container during the rain and use it for your own measurement of the precipitation levels. Become your own meteorologist! 

Volunteer Spotlight (2/27/2026)

Kathleen and her 5 year old daughter were some of our weekly volunteers. They had frequented LNC for many years before making the decision to donate their time. During their hours, they fed Francis (the yellow-bellied slider), the crawdad, and the box turtles. Kathleen shared that her favorite part of volunteering was observing the passing of time each week, “the decomposition of a log we used to bounce on… the return of the beetles… and bluebonnets in bloom!”. Even on days when the weather wasn’t cooperating or they were in bad spirits, Kathleen and her daughter show up anyways and find joy in watching turtles dine and tramping through the woods. When asked what makes LNC special she said it “is like a tear in the urban fabric where the bare earth shows through”. We are so grateful for all the help Kathleen and her daughter have given us and the work of all of our volunteers. Your support allows us to continue to provide this resource to the community, we simply cannot do it without you!

We are currently looking for volunteers to help with a variety of tasks, both indoors and outdoors. 

Our main areas of need currently include:

Outdoor preparation for spring

Programming leaders

Office help

Front desk greeters

General maintenance

 If you are interested, please fill out the form on the volunteer page of our website!

An Evening of Muddy Tranquility (2/20/2026)

On Friday, February 13th and Saturday the 14th, the Louisville Nature Center hosted our Valentine's hike. The temperature was perfect for the event and despite the rain, couples chose to celebrate their special night here at LNC. Visitors enjoyed the candle lit hiking path and sensory garden, food and drink, and shared laughter and joy around the bonfire. Cornflake, our resident corn snake, and Chocolate, one of our box turtles, enjoyed their meet and greet with our cheerful guests. During this night of muddy tranquility, one couple chose our paths to pop the question. This marks our first couple engaged at one of our Valentine's hikes! We were so excited to share in this beautiful moment and wish the very best to the newly engaged couple!

For people seeking a more vengeful holiday we offered our Valentine's cockroach fundraiser. People donated to feed a cockroach named after their ex to our yellow-bellied slider Francis. Those who donated received a certificate of death and for an additional cost could receive a video of their cockroach being fed to Francis. This fundraiser was a great success, allowing people a silly way to relieve stress during a season that can be very stressful. Throughout this years fundraiser we were able to raise $7,408.05. The money we raised will be used to improve our visitor’s experience, from repairing boardwalks to enhancing the nature play area.