This edition features details about our Master's students time in Hawaii, controlled burns, updates about our next strategic plan and lessons from a vernal pond. Also featured is a list of our current volunteers who have all together donated a total of 991.75 hours!
News & Updates
Fall 2023 Leaflet
This edition of The Merry Leaflet highlights Merry Lea from a board member's point of view, a deep-dive into the Glacial Retreat Center and highlights from this past year. You can also learn more about what our nature preschoolers have been up to lately as well as our undergraduate students. Also featured is a farm-to-table recipe & staff updates!
Spring 2023 Leaflet
This edition of The Merry Leaflet features Conservation Leadership School reflections, Mennonite Creation Care Network (MCCN) updates, and what's been going on at the Merry Lea Teaching Farm. You can also read about other Merry Lea updates such as our new website, summer research students, strategic planning, our team, and more. Also featured is a volunteer spotlight!
Fall 2022 Leaflet
The issue focuses on highlights from this past summer, including our first Indiana Junior and Teen Indiana Master Naturalist camp and the work of our Agroecology Summer Intensive students. You can also read about how we are fulfilling our founder’s vision of Merry Lea serving as a place for undergraduate research.
Winter 2023 Leaflet
This issue of The Merry Leaflet features how Merry Lea is ensuring a sustainable and resilient future for years to come! Also featured are highlights from our graduate student’s intercultural experience in the Bahamas, a behind the scenes look of our 2023-2026 strategic action planning process and academic updates.
Public Electric Vehicle Charging Station at Merry Lea
Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center now has a free and public charging station for electric vehicles! Located in our Learning Center parking lot, our ChargePoint station is free for the community to use every day of the week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Luckey’s Landing: Where the Forest, Grassland and Wetland Come Together
Written by Michael Miller, current 2022-23 master’s student - It’s official! I finally began my graduate school journey to become an environmental educator through Goshen College’s Master of Arts in Environmental Education program at Merry Lea.
Professor Joel Pontius: 7 Years of Developing Environmental Leaders at Merry Lea
Joel Pontius joined the Merry Lea team in 2015 as director of PreK-12 environmental education, overseeing PreK-12 programming and the master’s students in their teaching practicum. In 2016, he became the Sustainability Leadership Semester (SLS) director and associate professor in the Sustainability and Environmental Education Department.
Spring 2022
This issue of The Merry Leaflet highlights memorable experiences for the graduate students on their journey as environmental educators through their words and reflections. Witness their transformation from first-day nerves to realizing their capability and potential in providing meaningful environmental education to different audiences.
Tom Hartzell Reflects on 10 Years of Service to Merry Lea
Tom Hartzell first arrived at Merry Lea in 2011 as a master’s student in environmental education, during which he also researched sediment contamination in the Elkhart River. Upon graduating in 2012, he joined the Merry Lea team as coordinator of residential undergraduate programs and an environmental educator.
