The vision of Outreach Education began as a way to bring a hands-on science experience to students in the Charleston area that would otherwise not have the opportunity to visit the Barrier Island Environmental Education Center.

Over time, the program has adapted and is available to a wider audience- including places like nursing homes/retirement communities, pre-schools or personal events. Our main class is Herpetology, which is the study of reptiles and amphibians. We bring live animals, native to the Lowcountry, to supplement the teaching material so participants get a chance to touch and interact with animals like snakes, alligators, turtles and frogs. We teach about the animals’ habitats, adaptations and life cycles.

Herpetology is our most popular outreach program, but we also offer other programs, including Ornithology, Owls 101, Nocturnal Wildlife, and Sea Turtle CSI, among others. For descriptions of these programs, please refer to "Classes We Offer" under the Barrier Island tab.

Reservations

If you are interested in bringing Barrier Island naturalists to your classroom, facility or event, please fill out the Outreach Education Request Form (on the right), and one of our staff will contact you shortly. We offer programs between 30 and 60 minutes, which is tailored to fit your grade-level standard or audience. For Title I or financially qualifying organizations, our program is free; otherwise, the program fee starts at $100 for 30 minutes and increases $25 for every additional 15 minutes (which includes transportation and mileage). A cost breakdown might look like this:

• $100 - 30 minutes total

• $125 - 45 minutes total

• $150 - 1 hour total

• $200 - 1.5 hours total

• $250 - 2 hours total

Please contact Tyler Harris at tharris@stchristopher.org if you have any questions, and we hope to see you soon!