Vermont Institute Of Natural Science Inc

Education: in fy25, our educators reached 96,204 participants, including those impacted by vins school programs, community outreach, nature camp, afterschool programs, and visits to the nature center. Many of these involved repeat interactions related to school curricula or camp, improving the likelihood of a long-term educational impact. In addition, research projects involving american kestrels, broadwing hawks, native crayfish, monarch butterflies, and other species impacted landowners and other members of the public.

Wild bird rehabilitation: many people in new england know vins for its expertise in rehabilitating orphaned and injured wild birds. Our rehabilitators treated over a thousand birds in fy25, and the facility can accommodate about 150 birds at any one time. The recent growth in patient intakes, which has doubled in six years, roughly tracks with the increase in human visitors to vins. Our release rate of 4o% is relatively high for rehabilitation centers in the united states. Besides healing and releasing birds, our rehabilitation staff also counsels the public by phone and help to care for the full-time resident raptors, songbirds, and reptiles that we hold on exhibit.