News and Announcements
Pierce Pickup Favorites
Order your Pierce Pickups by Thursday of each week and pickup the following Friday at the Institute Visitor Center from Noon- 2 pm or at Anne's Health Food Store in Hastings during normal business hours.
Join Us on Thursday, November 21 for Michelle's Retirement Party!
The open house will honor Executive Director Michelle Skedgell upon her retirement after 23 years of service to the Institute.
Michelle Skedgell, Executive Director of Pierce Cedar Creek Institute since September 2001, has announced her plans to retire from the Institute as of December 31, 2024. Michelle joined the Institute shortly after its opening. The Institute is a nature center, an environmental education center, and a biological field station, a destination of learning, research, and natural resource management on 850 acres in rural Barry County. The Institute's founder, Bill Pierce, and his wife, Jessie, created the Institute to give back to the community that meant so much to them and provide a welcoming space for everyone to connect with the natural world.
Enjoy a Glimpse Inside the Institute's Field Station
Each summer students descend upon Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, but not in your typically nature summer camp sort of way. As a Field Station, undergraduate and graduate students from a consortium of colleges and universities are awarded environmental research grants, natural resources fellowships, and creative arts fellowships.
Over the course of the summer, these students complete projects related to the natural world while learning career and life skills along the way. The goal of the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Field Station is to enhance the health and stability of ecosystems in West Michigan by providing scientific information to support land management decisions. But the heart of the Field Station is the students. Learn from the 2024 Field Station researchers and fellows as they talk about their summer projects and experiences. This video was created by Lucero Orduna-Rivera, a student at Grand Rapids Community College and 2024 Creative Arts Fellow at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute.
This video represents the "world of Pierce Cedar Creek Institute and the people that have contributed to the research" through Lucero's lens as an artist and videographer.
Watch Lucero's video below:
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, for Environmental Education
Set on 850 acres in rural Barry County, Michigan, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, a mix between an environmental education center, nature center and biological field station, provides visitors opportunities for education, recreation, research and exposure to a blend of diverse habitats including wetlands, forests, marshes, streams, lakes, and prairies.
What's Happening at the Institute?
Environmental Education & Sustainable Land Management Initiatives
The Institute offers environmental education and sustainable land management programs to the community, instructing environmental stewards by communicating the core values of land conservancy, environmental responsibility and the pursuit of knowledge; provides scientific research grants and research partnerships with a consortium of area colleges and universities; and features over nine miles of hiking trails open to the public, free of charge, from dawn to dusk year-round.