Litzsinger Road Ecology Center

What Litzsinger Road Ecology Center does

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC) is a nonprofit educational and ecological research organization founded in 1989 and managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden. The center operates a 39-acre study site in Ladue, Missouri, within the St. Louis metropolitan area, encompassing approximately 12 acres of restored tallgrass prairie (216 plant species, 179 native to Missouri), 14 acres of bottomland woodland under restoration, and a half-mile segment of Deer Creek. LREC's core mission is place-based education: training K-12 teachers throughout the St. Louis region to use local ecology as a framework for teaching across subjects, supported by scheduled school visits, professional development workshops, and a year-long Teacher Partnership Program that begins with Effective Outdoor Learning and advances to Sustainable Schoolyards.

LREC's products center on free educational programming rather than commercial offerings. Core programs include the Teacher Partnership Program, Effective Outdoor Learning (EOL) workshops, Sustainable Schoolyards, Schoolyards as Habitats, the Advanced Inquiry Program master's degree in partnership with Miami University, and a Volunteer Educator program. The center also offers 2-3 research grants per year (up to $1,000) for undergraduate, graduate, PhD, and professional researchers, paid restoration internships, and unpaid place-based education internships. Revenue mechanisms are limited to research and educational grants; all teacher-facing programs are offered free of charge, with operating costs supported primarily through the Missouri Botanical Garden parent organization.

The organization is governed by Director Dr. Bob Coulter (since 1998) and supported by approximately 10 staff including School Partnership Coordinators, a Supervisor of Ecological Restoration, Restoration Coordinators, an AIP/Adult Programs Coordinator, an Education Program Specialist, a Horticulture Programs Coordinator, and a Webmaster. Strategic partnerships include the Missouri Botanical Garden (parent), the Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC), Miami University, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (Project Clear), and Missouri Stream Team. The center has 30+ years of continuous ecological restoration data and serves a concentrated regional audience within the St. Louis metro area.

Name

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center

Legal name

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center

Website

https://litzsinger.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center is a nonprofit, Missouri Botanical Garden-managed program operating a 39-acre outdoor ecology laboratory in St. Louis that delivers free place-based education and teacher training programs to K-12 schools in the region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Education Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Field Schools & Experiential Academic Programs (Archaeology, Ecology, etc.) (EDAIAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Outdoor & Wilderness Education Schools (Field-Based Learning) (THAAAOAA), Science Camps & Field Programs (Nature, Space, Marine, Geology) (EDAMABAB)

Keywords

• Place-based education
• Ecological restoration
• Outdoor education
• Environmental education
• Schoolyard habitats

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Grants: LREC offers 2-3 research grants per year for undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students as well as professional researchers conducting research on site. Grants up to $1000, with possibility for greater funding for extensive research. Funds consumable supplies, travel, stipends, and conference attendance. Cannot support permanent equipment.
2. Educational Grants: Financial support offered on a competitive basis to promote and support educational activities. Grants may fund transportation costs, scientific supplies, and teacher release time for educators participating in programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

LREC operates a 39-acre outdoor laboratory in metropolitan St. Louis offering free place-based education programs that train K-12 teachers and host student field visits in restored prairie, woodland, and creek habitats. The center also conducts ecological restoration research, awards small competitive research grants, and runs volunteer and internship programs in native species management and habitat reconstruction.

Product overview

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC) offers place-based education programs primarily for K-12 teachers and students in the St. Louis region. The core offering is the Teacher Partnership Program, which begins with Effective Outdoor Learning (EOL) as an entry point and progresses to Sustainable Schoolyards for returning partners. Programs include site access to the 39-acre outdoor laboratory featuring prairie, woodland, and creek ecosystems, research opportunities with grant funding, and volunteer programs. Additional offerings include paid Restoration Internships, unpaid Place-based Education Internships, the Advanced Inquiry Program (a web-based master's degree partnership with Miami University), and professional development workshops. The center is managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Teacher Partnership Program
• Effective Outdoor Learning (EOL)
• Sustainable Schoolyards
• Nature-Based Learning: Outdoor Explorations with PreK
• What's It Like Where You Live?
• Schoolyards as Habitats
• Site Access and Field Science Programs
• Research Studies and Grants
• Restoration Internships (Paid)
• Place-based Education Internships (Unpaid)
• Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP)
• Volunteer Educator Program
• Horticulture Volunteer Program

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Missouri Botanical GardencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLREC is managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Garden provides institutional support, staffing, and connects LREC to broader botanical and educational resources. The Garden also offers additional teacher professional development opportunities and hosts the Advanced Inquiry Program master's degree partnership.
• Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLREC is part of PEEC which aims to serve as a learning organization for program developers, develop evaluation techniques for place-based education, and contribute to the research base underlying place-based education and school change.
• Miami UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLREC participates in the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP), an online master's degree program through Miami University with experiential learning at the Missouri Botanical Garden. LREC staff coordinate the program.
• St. Louis Region SchoolscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLREC partners with teachers at schools throughout the St. Louis region through its Teacher Partnership Program. Teachers receive training and resources to implement place-based education at their schools and bring students to LREC for field experiences.
• Missouri Stream TeamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLREC staff and volunteers participate in Missouri Stream Team activities, collecting macro-invertebrate data from Deer Creek for community science programs.
• Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLREC collaborates with MSD on Project Clear, a watershed improvement initiative. LREC is working on habitat reconstruction after Project Clear pipeline construction to establish healthy wildlife habitats.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Forest Park Forever: St. Louis-based nonprofit supporting Forest Park with conservation and some educational programming. Same regional geography and conservation orientation, though broader scope and different primary mission.

Direct peers

• Morton Arboretum: Chicago-area arboretum offering outdoor education and teacher professional development with extensive school partnership programs. Comparable model of using a managed natural site for place-based teacher training and student field experiences.
• Audubon Naturalist Society: DC-area nonprofit offering nature education programs for teachers and students through classes, workshops, and field experiences. Similar mission and program structure around community-based nature education and teacher development.
• NatureBridge: National nonprofit operating residential outdoor science education programs in multiple national parks. Provides immersive place-based learning experiences for K-12 students that closely parallel LREC's school-partnership mission and outdoor laboratory model.
• Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest: Kentucky-based nonprofit combining arboretum, ecological research, and K-12 outdoor education. Closely comparable in combining habitat restoration, ecological research, and curriculum-linked school programming.
• IslandWood: Washington-state outdoor learning center offering place-based environmental education for schools with teacher professional development. Comparable model of using natural setting and teacher partnerships to deliver field-based science learning.
• Shaw Nature Reserve: A 2,400-acre natural area in Missouri managed by Missouri Botanical Garden offering outdoor education and habitat restoration. Sister program under the same parent, with overlapping ecological and educational mission in the same region.
• Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center: Missouri Department of Conservation nature center near St. Louis offering outdoor education programs and field experiences for schools. Directly comparable model of using a natural site for K-12 place-based learning in the same region.

Broad incumbents

• Saint Louis Zoo (Education Programs): Regional zoo with extensive K-12 educational programming in the St. Louis area. Competes for the same teacher and school audience with a broader institutional scope and visitor-facing operations.
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Parent institution of LREC and one of the nation's leading botanical gardens. Operates at much greater scale with broader programming; LREC is essentially an embedded program unit within its portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvifqynGX0XzcwCkZiwTyQA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Litzsinger Road Ecology Center