Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

Today, a generous $5,000 MATCH from Frank and Liz Stevens doubles your gift!

This year holds special meaning for me as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, and I celebrate my 20th year as Executive Director. As you will see from the timeline below, much has changed since we started in 1966, but with help from supporters like you, we continue to connect our visitors to the wonders of the natural world.

From the beginning, the Science Center embraced nature-immersive education to introduce children, families, and adults to the nature around them. I invite you to consider supporting the Science Center by making a contribution to our Nearer to Nature Annual Fund to help us build on this legacy.

Contributing to the Science Center means:

• Supporting the backbone of our operations

• Keeping our offerings affordable

• Ensuring visitor experiences with nature

• Creating a community dedicated to environmental stewardship

I hope you will join us in celebrating the Science Center’s 60th Anniversary this season. We have many activities planned throughout the year. I also hope you enjoy reading the timeline below, which illustrates our long history of actively educating hundreds of thousands of visitors over the last six decades. I invite you to reach out to me to share your own memories of the Science Center.

With gratitude,

Iain MacLeod

Executive Director

Every donation makes a difference:

• $50 helps provide fresh vegetables for our deer, woodchuck, porcupine, and others every week.
• $100 supports live animal programs for local schools.
• $300 helps maintain our iconic trails and exhibits.

Who We Are

Locals call it “the Science Center,” a place where families and visitors of all ages make lasting memories while experiencing the awe of native New Hampshire animal ambassadors along a meandering, forested Live Animal Exhibit Trail. Set beside the picturesque Squam Lakes and framed by surrounding mountains, the campus spans over 200 acres of fields, forests, streams, ponds, and gardens, inviting guests into a true outdoor classroom. 

Here, non‑releasable animals find lifelong homes and serve as teachers in naturalistic habitats, while people connect with nature on accessible trails, in Kirkwood Gardens, at Blue Heron School, and through hands‑on environmental education programs. Guided lake cruises led by naturalists offer close‑up views of Common Loons, Bald Eagles, and the lake’s ecology, rounding out an experience that is at once joyful, deeply educational, and designed to inspire empathy, well‑being, and a lasting commitment to caring for the natural world.

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center is a non-profit environmental education organization founded in 1966 located in Holderness, New Hampshire. With a mission to advance understanding of ecology by exploring New Hampshire’s natural world, the Science Center has brought visitors nearer to nature for 60 years.