Heronwood Field Station is a 5000 square foot ecological field station on over 60 acres in Alamo. Heronwood is home to several projects and programs, including high school Conservation Biology courses, a Mitchell’s satyr butterfly rearing and research program, and more. With fully equipped laboratories, a GIS station, and plenty of room for projects, Heronwood is an ideal place to work on a wide variety of research and education projects.

Please note:  Heronwood Field Station is a private school and not open to the public.  For education questions, please call (269) 459-8500.

Conservation Biology Program at Heronwood

Heronwood Students in Canoe

KNC’s Conservation Biology class, offered in partnership with the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, introduces students to the exciting careers in Natural Resource Conservation and Wildlife Biology.  This is a laboratory/field-based course which involves hands-on learning of ecological science, animal and plant studies (i.e. behavior, identification), job shadowing, and field trips. This course has special emphasis on skills and technology used in this profession. Students have direct contact with natural resource conservationists and wildlife biologists in this field of study and get to use Heronwood’s 90-acre forest as an extension of the classroom. They will receive either their 2nd or 3rd high school science credit through this program, as well as attain the skills necessary to obtain employment in various careers in Natural Resource Conservation and Wildlife Biology. Major units of the class include: Biodiversity, Native Plant Propagation, Human Impacts on the Natural World, Maps and Navigation, Soil, Natural Resources Careers, Forestry, Climate Change, Wildlife, and Water Issues.

To learn more about this program and enrollment requirements, please visit KRESA’s website or call 269-250-9300

Visit KNC’s Conservation Biology website >

Ardea Youth Climate Leaders Program 

Ardea Youth Climate Leaders program, run by the Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition (KCCC), is an afterschool program for high school students to gain non-partisan and science-based knowledge on climate change, to build professional leadership and community organizing skills, and lead their peers to be empowered to advocate for a resilient future.  

This program focuses on a peer education model utilizing a non-partisan approach that presents science-based facts and encourages critical thinking. Leaders learn to define and verbalize their own values, provide hope and pathways to change, and gain the ability to advocate for their own futures. The two-part program begins with a mandatory comprehensive 40-hour leadership training week that combines climate change education and facilitated leadership team building. Learn more and apply for the upcoming school year at the KCCC website here >