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Welcome We are Nokuse Education, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) organization doing business as the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center. The center is an environmental facility serving students, teachers and professional audiences. The center is nestled in the LongleafPine ecosystem, which is considered the 6th most biodiverse area in the continental U.S. and less than 2% of it remains intact today. As such, it is the perfect place to educate students on the importance of biodiversity and to encourage conservation, preservation and restoration. This ecological "hot-spot" is available as a gathering place where local and regional scientists can conduct ecological research and participate in symposia that disseminates this research to the public through the Florida Educational Channel.  Developed by Walton County conservationist and resident,M.C. Davis, on his 50,000-acre conservation land named Nokuse Plantation, the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center is named after and dedicated to world renowned scientist Dr. Edward O. Wilson. As Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus and Honorary Curator in Entomology at Harvard University, Dr. Wilson has made it his life-long mission to educate the public about the importance of conserving the world's biodiversity. This two-time Pulitzer Prize winner spent his formative years and performed his earliest scientific investigations in NW Florida and SW Alabama, and developed the term "biophilia" - the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life.  Students in fourth, seventh and tenth grades who visit the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center 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. By offering four days of curriculum that coincides with the Florida's Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, our young citizens have a better understanding and knowledge for science portions of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). While promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) subjects, students are provided opportunities for inquiry, investigation and innovation.The Walton County School District considers our facility to be an extension of their classroom as we ARE their science education project-based learning facility, the place that schooling becomes applicable. Each year, The E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center educates 6,000 students in a 6 county area and averages more than 140 students every school day. Important Notice: Open to General Public Hours start June 3, 2011 Admission is $5 per person. Children ages 6 to 12 are $2. Children 5 and under are free. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. June 1 through August 31 Fridays 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Saturdays 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Sundays 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. September 1 through May 31 Saturdays 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Please check back with us for scheduled events. Click here to view the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center booklet. (PDF) Check us out on Facebook. |
 
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