Hitchcock Center for the Environment

Ticks & Tickborne Diseases: Separating Fact from Fiction
2025-05-14 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
Ticks & Tickborne Diseases (Including Lyme): Separating Fact from Fiction
Wednesday, May 14
6:00 PM at Hitchcock Center
Join us for a presentation by Dr. Steve Rich, Professor of Microbiology at UMASS Amherst, on tick-borne diseases and how to prevent them. Lyme Disease is the most prevalent infectious disease in Massachusetts and is now considered to be a public health crisis. In addition to Lyme, deer ticks can carry the pathogens which cause Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, Relapsing Fever and Powassan virus, all of which can be very serious and are on the increase. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! So come learn how you can protect yourself and your family during tick season.
REGISTER HERE

Spring Birding Course
2025-05-17 05:00 - 17:00, 2025-05-31 05:30 - 12:00
(February – June 2025) The Hitchcock Center’s annual Spring Birding course! The class focuses on identification and migration of New England birds. Click here to get information about today’s session, from location to the birds we hope to identify.

Planting for Pollinators Demo
2025-05-18 10:00 - 11:30
with Casey Beebe
Sunday, May 18th
10am – 11:30am
As part of our native plant sale collaboration with My Home Park, we will be demonstrating how to plant your kit and generally how to plant well for pollinators as we expand one of our many pollinator gardens. Teaching participants what plants support what pollinators throughout the season. Space is limited, and come ready to try out some planting yourself.

Planting for Pollinators Demo
2025-05-18 10:00 - 11:30
Planting for Pollinators Demo with My Home Park Native Plant Kit
Sunday, May 18th 10am – 11:30am
As part of our native plant sale collaboration with My Home Park, we will be demonstrating how to plant your kit and generally how to plant well for pollinators as we expand one of our many pollinator gardens. Teaching participants what plants support what pollinators throughout the season. Space is limited, and come ready to try out some planting yourself. This is for folks who have purchased a kit from My Home Park.

Mushroom Class
2025-05-25 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-07-19 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-10-04 10:00 - 12:00
Mushroom Classes
with Jessica Benson Evans
Sunday, May 25, 10-12 – Mt. Toby
Saturday, July 19, 10-12 – Cadwell Forest
Saturday, October 4, 10-12 – Morse Hill

Join mushroom enthusiast Jessica Benson Evans of the Pioneer Valley Mycological Association as she explores and teaches us about the ecology and magic of fungi. Jessica has a conservation approach so this will be an educational and identification course rather than foraging. Meeting locations and further instructions provided with registration, sign up for 1 class or for the series for a discount. One class $25 or All 3 for $65.

REGISTER HERE

Firefly Ecology Fireside Program
2025-06-12 20:30 - 21:30
with John Green
Thursday, June 12, 8:30pm
Sliding Scale $10, $20, $30

Do you love the ephemeral season of fireflies? Or maybe you call them lightning bugs, either way come and learn about and enjoy some guided firefly watching. We will have a fire going and snacks so we can talk about fireflies in Hitchcock gardens before we head to fields to revel in them together, a truly magical group experience.

Battle of the Botanicals
2025-06-18 18:00 - 21:00
We will be inviting some of our region’s top bartender/chef teams to profile their talents and help us raise funds for the Hitchcock Center for the Environment’s environmental justice programs. This event is 21+.
Held on Wednesday, June 18 from 6 – 9 p.m. this ticketed fundraiser is expected to draw 300+ people. Each restaurant team will present a tasting station with an appetizer and cocktail sample that highlight a signature botanical feature. The three top-voted bartenders will then take the stage for a live cocktail mix-off!
A panel of local celebrity judges will name the winner!
Get Tickets

Spring Birding Course: Maine Trip
2025-06-20 - 2025-06-22
(February – June 2025) An optional add-on to the Hitchcock Center’s annual Spring Birding course! The class focuses on identification and migration of New England birds. Click here to get information about each session.

Living Building Closed for Cleaning
2025-08-20 - 2025-08-27
Hitchcock Center’s Living Building will be closed for deep cleaning from August 20 – 27

Hitchcock Harvest
2025-08-20 08:00 - 17:00
Harvesting hope for more than 60 years – one petal at a time!
Sunday, October 19, 2025 3 PM – 6 PM in Hitchcock Center’s gardens
The Hitchcock Center has been sowing seeds of change and educating for a healthy planet in the Valley for more than 60 years. Come together in community to enjoy local food & libations in our Brew Garden & wander through interactive stations themed around the petals of the Living Building — Place, Water, Energy, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty. See what local innovators, and Hitchcock Center, are doing to show what it means to shape a hopeful, resilient future.
Follow the petals of possibility and share your climate hopes and dreams in our collective art project and harvest hope, one petal at a time!

Fall Birding Course
2025-08-23 05:00 - 17:00, 2025-09-10 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-09-13 07:00 - 12:00, 2025-09-20 07:00 - 12:00, 2025-09-27 07:00 - 12:00, 2025-10-04 05:45 - 17:00, 2025-10-08 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-10-11 07:00 - 12:00 and 2 more dates
August – November 2025
Sliding Scale $350 / $410 / $470
There is a maximum of 15 people
Join Scott Surner as he guides you through the fall migration in New England. The class starts with a trip to Plum Island to experience the southbound migration of shorebirds as well, we hope to encounter many Herons, Gulls, Terns, and an early Warbler on that first trip. The local trips will focus on the drab plumages of fall warblers, along with Vireos, Flycatchers, and of course “The Sparrows”. There will be two additional trips to coastal areas.
Fall Birding Class Dates:
All trips leave from the Hitchcock Center. Carpooling will be encouraged. Participants will need to make their own lodging arrangements for the final weekend overnight trip to the Cape, course cost only includes birding instruction. Additional information will be provided after signing up.
FIELD TRIPS:
August 23rd – Plum Island. Depart 5:00 AM Looking for southbound Shorebirds, Herons/Egrets, Terns, Gulls, and more.
September 13th – Local. 7:00 AM Fall warblers, Vireos, and flycatchers.
September 20th– Local. 7:00 AM Fall Warblers and more.
September 27th– Local. 7:00 AM Fall Warblers and the beginning of Sparrow season.
October 4th – Light House Point, Connecticut. Depart 5:45 AM Migrating Raptors and many other songbirds. Last year, we tallied 1183 Blue Jays migrating.
October 11th – Local. 7:00 AM. Local- more Sparrows and early waterfowl.
October 25th – Local- 7:00 AM. Local. Waterfowl.
November 7th-9th. Cape Cod. Depart the Hitchcock Center at 5:00 AM for a weekend on Cape Cod. We’ll hit several areas on the outer Cape, including locations in Provincetown, Wellfleet, Eastham, and Orleans.
CLASSROOM SESSIONS:
Wednesdays – Sept 10 & Oct 8 – 6:00 – 8:00 PM at the Hitchcock Center
REGISTRATION AND MORE INFO

Hitchcock Garden Party
2025-09-03 17:30 - 19:00
Garden Party & Herbal Infusion Demo
Wednesday, September 3rd
5:30 pm in the Hitchcock gardens
Join us for a casual gathering in the Hitchcock Center’s beautiful gardens and enjoy a demonstration on how to make a variety of infusions with seasonal herbs and flowers and learn more about the work of the Hitchcock Center with Executive Director Billy Spitzer. Light refreshments from the garden will be served.
Email Shelly Kahan or Kim Snyder to RSVP

Let's Talk About DAFs: Community Discussion
2025-10-15 12:00 - 14:00
Let’s Talk About DAF’s
Wednesday, October 15
12:00 PM EST on Zoom

Last Spring, staff from Hitchcock Center sat down with a few nonprofit leaders working in farming, conservation, food, and environmental justice.

The stories we shared around that potluck table were strikingly similar: our budgets had been slashed by 25%, 40%, or more, almost overnight, due to cuts in federal funding. We realized the power of working collaboratively to meet the moment. So, we began meeting more regularly. Our ranks grew. After much discussion, we are ready to share and discuss a path forward with you, our donors and community.

REGISTER NOW

Forest Bathing
2025-10-16 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-02 14:00 - 16:00
Forest Bathing

Thursday October 16th, 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Sunday, November 2nd, 2 pm – 4 pm
One session $25 or $40 for both sessions
Space is limited

Connecting with nature an essential part of who we are as people. Time spent in forests has been proven to reduce stress-hormone levels and lower blood pressure, a perfect way to navigate the challenges of the modern world. A Forest Bathing experience allows you to slow down and immerse yourself in the world around you. Our time together will consist of a leisurely walk with stops along the way to explore themagic of the Hitchcock Center woodland.
This is a very relaxed, slow, and mindful wayof spending time in nature. Walks typically last about 2-3 hours and finish with an herbal tea from Todd’s garden. There is hardly a better antidote for these times!

Hitchcock Harvest: A Celebration of Sustainability
2025-10-19 15:00 - 18:00

Hitchcock Community Read: The Serviceberry
2025-11-12 18:00 - 20:00
Hitchcock Community Read- The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Date Change – November 12, 6-8pm
Free or by donation, registration required

Join us for a discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass author Robin Wall Kimmerer’s new book The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. We will come together to discuss and share our experience of this special and timely book. This gathering will take place in the garden if weather allows and we will be able to visit our own Amelanchier (or Shadbush as we tend to call it here at Hitchcock) somewhere between its flowering and fruiting.

How Healthy is Our Air?
2026-02-11 18:00 - 19:00
with Dr. Billy Spitzer- Hitchcock Center Executive Director
Wednesday, February 11th – 6pm
How healthy is the air we breathe? In this program we will share:

What we have learned from several years of data from more than 100 air quality sensors in Western Massachusetts
How extreme heat, wildfires, wood burning, local geography, and temperature inversions can worsen air quality and affect our health
How an air sensor works, and how you can build a DIY air cleaner
How you can find out the air quality near you, what you can do to protect your health, and what we can do to improve air quality in our region
