Introducing the Wachenheim Center for Environmental Education
An investment in our community and future, the Wachenheim Center for Environmental Education will create new opportunities for children, families, schools, adults, and visitors from Rye and beyond to learn, explore, and engage with the natural world. More than a place for environmental education, it will be a welcoming space for discovery, community engagement, and meaningful connections to nature at every stage of life.
A New Space for Learning, Discovery, and Community
The approximately 4,500-square-foot Wachenheim Center for Environmental Education will transform how Rye Nature Center welcomes visitors and delivers environmental education. Designed to support a growing community, the new building will feature flexible learning spaces, interactive exhibits, living animal habitats, accessible restrooms, and welcoming gathering areas that connect indoor learning with the surrounding 47-acre preserve.
With room for simultaneous programs and expanded opportunities for children, teens, adults, schools, and community groups, the Center will help us inspire curiosity, encourage environmental stewardship, and foster lifelong connections to nature.
About the Wachenheims
Edgar “Ed” Wachenheim III’s love of nature began long before he and his wife, Sue, became supporters of the Rye Nature Center. Ed became an Adirondack 46er at 17. The couple has since hiked together in Bhutan, Patagonia, Italy, and Crimea. They also enjoy walking the trails at the Rye Nature Center, a place close to home where they hope future generations will develop their own connection to nature.
“My appreciation for the importance of protecting nature began as a child, hiking in the Adirondacks and protesting the pollution of the Ausable River by a pulp mill. Sue and I strongly believe in the need to protect our lands, our waters, and the wildlife that inhabit them,” said Wachenheim.
That belief aligns with FRNC’s work to protect the Rye Nature Center’s 47-acre forest and help people of all ages develop a lasting connection to the natural world.
Ed continued, “If a child plants a tree, there will be one more tree in the world. If FRNC teaches a child the importance of preserving our lands and waters, maybe someday there will be thousands of healthier forests and thousands of cleaner rivers and lakes in our world.”
Become Part of Our Living Legacy
We invite you to help build the next chapter of Rye Nature Center with us.
Contact Christine Siller, Executive Director, at christine@ryenaturecenter.org to learn more.
Campaign gifts can be pledged over multiple years and may be made via check, wire transfer, stock, mutual fund, donor-advised fund, or company matching gifts.