The Buffalo Audubon Society is a conservation and environmental
education organization serving eight counties through nature center
outdoor educational programs, field trips, and community education
programs offered at sites across WNY. The Buffalo Audubon Society is
the gracious host of our Beaver Meadow Observatory.
Its mission of environmental conservation and education is
accomplished through programming at its Beaver Meadow Nature Center,
school visits, outreach at community sites, stewardship of nearly
1000 acres of protected lands at five wildlife refuges across
Western New York, and participation in conservation projects and
advocacy locally and state-wide.
Background Information
The Buffalo Audubon Society has a long history of public
education, conservation, and advocacy on behalf of the environment.
Its founders were contemporary with the founders of the
international Audubon movement and were primary participants in the
grassroots movement to get The Plumage Bill passed in the New York
State legislature in 1910, a major conservation achievement which
reduced if not eliminated the widespread practice of mass killings
of birds for the fashion industry. Buffalo Audubon Society's mission
of education goes to its very origins.
Formed in a school, its initial founders included many teachers
and much of its focus was on youth programs. In 1915, in partnership
with the Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Public School
Department, it formed 125 Junior Audubon "circles" in the Buffalo
schools to promote education relative to the economic value of wild
birds and the necessity for their protection.
The Society recently celebrated its 90th anniversary, making it
one of the oldest Audubon Societies in the United States. The
Buffalo Audubon Society, with nine decades of service to the region,
is one of the oldest nonprofit organizations in Western New York and
in fact is one of the oldest environmental organizations in the
country. It is an official chapter of the National Audubon Society,
which as one of the leading environmental organizations in the
country, has over one half million members.
The Buffalo chapter, with 3100 members, is one of the largest in
New York State. Its mission of environmental conservation and
education is accomplished through programming at its Beaver Meadow
Nature Center in Wyoming County, in-school visits, curriculum
enhancement and teacher inservice training. Outreach at community
sites, stewardship of nearly 1000 acres of protected lands at five
wildlife refuges across Western New York, and participation in
conservation projects locally and state-wide are also priorities of
Buffalo Audubon.
For more information:
The Buffalo Museum of Science, through collections, research,
education and interpretation, provides opportunities for all people
to develop a scientific understanding of the natural and cultural
world with an emphasis on the Greater Niagara Region. The Museum
challenges everyone to use their knowledge of science to enhance
respect for each other and the environment.
The Williamsville Space Lab/Planetarium complex is a
Williamsville Central School District facility located at
Williamsville North High School near the intersection of Hopkins and
Dodge Roads in East Amherst.
The planetarium has a 30 foot diameter dome ceiling and a Spitz A5
star projector that creates a realistic simulated night sky. Many
celestial phenomena can be reproduced by the star projector: Moon
phases, planetary motion, seasonal chages of the Sun and stars,
constellations, and even a projection of the Earth. The space lab
is also a multimedia theater and classroom with video, slide and
special effect projectors. Director Mark Percy is a member of the
Buffalo Astronomical Association.
For additional information, call or write to:
Mark Percy - Director
Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium
1595 Hopkins Road
Williamsville, NY 14221
PHONE: (716) 626-8523 / FAX: (716) 626-8375
e-mail: mpercy@williamsvillek12.org
