About
Briar Bush Nature Center Programs for Children include activities such as parties, dinners, tours, environmental trips, and outdoor play. Children use the Briar Bush Nature Playscape, which features a running stream, sand pit, crawling and walking tunnels, balancing logs, and other outdoor play elements. Programs also make use of the Briar Bush Pond and the Briar Bush Butterfly House.
The mission of Briar Bush is to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to explore and protect nature by encouraging curiosity and scientific inquiry. The program is part of a nature center that has hosted over 35 Centennial Celebrations, including parties, dinners, tours, and environmental trips, and has carried out projects such as reforestation and native plantings for wildlife habitats, a Pocket Naturalist Field Guide to Briar Bush, a “Think & Go Green” sustainability initiative, Natural Playscape design and development, and endowment growth.
Leadership connected with Briar Bush includes Dede Long, who served as Director of Briar Bush Nature Center from May 1979 until retirement in March 2010, followed by Mike Weilbacher in the Director role, and Greta Brunschwyler, who became Executive Director in 2011. Staff roles include Senior Naturalist Mark Fallon and Educator Melissa Eldridge.
Briar Bush has received multiple Institutional Museum Assessment Program grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences and the American Association of Museums, including a grant focused on the public dimension of the organization. Senior Naturalist Mark Fallon received the National Garden Club of America’s Hull Award for outstanding achievement furthering the environmental education of children. Briar Bush was recognized by the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators for its outstanding environmental educational program, and Educator Melissa Eldridge received the PAEE Daisy Klinedinst Award for educators with particular promise.
Community involvement includes more than 50 years during which Everett and Florence Griscom shared their knowledge and love of nature with Scouts, school groups, and birders. Area residents led by T. Russell Frank worked to protect the Griscom property and convinced Abington Township to purchase the land, and local citizens created Friends of Briar Bush (FOBB), a private non-profit, to meet educational and community objectives. Through a federal grant and a partnership with ThinkGreen, LCC, Briar Bush’s entrance received a complete makeover, and funding from DCNR, Abington Township, Friends of Briar Bush, and the Asplundh Foundation has supported projects such as the Butterfly House and a major makeover in 2024.
Last updated July 11, 2026.
The mission of Briar Bush is to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to explore and protect nature by encouraging curiosity and scientific inquiry. The program is part of a nature center that has hosted over 35 Centennial Celebrations, including parties, dinners, tours, and environmental trips, and has carried out projects such as reforestation and native plantings for wildlife habitats, a Pocket Naturalist Field Guide to Briar Bush, a “Think & Go Green” sustainability initiative, Natural Playscape design and development, and endowment growth.
Leadership connected with Briar Bush includes Dede Long, who served as Director of Briar Bush Nature Center from May 1979 until retirement in March 2010, followed by Mike Weilbacher in the Director role, and Greta Brunschwyler, who became Executive Director in 2011. Staff roles include Senior Naturalist Mark Fallon and Educator Melissa Eldridge.
Briar Bush has received multiple Institutional Museum Assessment Program grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences and the American Association of Museums, including a grant focused on the public dimension of the organization. Senior Naturalist Mark Fallon received the National Garden Club of America’s Hull Award for outstanding achievement furthering the environmental education of children. Briar Bush was recognized by the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators for its outstanding environmental educational program, and Educator Melissa Eldridge received the PAEE Daisy Klinedinst Award for educators with particular promise.
Community involvement includes more than 50 years during which Everett and Florence Griscom shared their knowledge and love of nature with Scouts, school groups, and birders. Area residents led by T. Russell Frank worked to protect the Griscom property and convinced Abington Township to purchase the land, and local citizens created Friends of Briar Bush (FOBB), a private non-profit, to meet educational and community objectives. Through a federal grant and a partnership with ThinkGreen, LCC, Briar Bush’s entrance received a complete makeover, and funding from DCNR, Abington Township, Friends of Briar Bush, and the Asplundh Foundation has supported projects such as the Butterfly House and a major makeover in 2024.
Last updated July 11, 2026.
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