The Prairie Ecology Bus Center (PEBC) is a non-profit environmental learning center whose mission is to
educate the people of southern and western Minnesota about the natural wonders of the region. The PEBC is a
program unlike any other in North America! This environmental learning center travels to the participants and
helps them understand their local environments through outdoor learning experiences nearby. We do this with
the help of a custom designed, transit bus called the Prairie Schooler Ecology Bus.
The Ecology Bus is equipped to be both a laboratory and classroom on wheels! Participants are picked
up at their school and transported to a nearby study site for half-day sessions on a topic of their teacher’s
choosing. Topics can range from prairie plants to wetland wildlife, ecosystems inventory to soil science, forest
ecology to nature interpretation through art, water quality testing and more. During the trip to the outdoor
location, students are prepared for their studies and spend the remainder of the class participating in outdoor
explorations, using the equipment on the bus as needed.
The PEBC also presents indoor, large group Assembly and Naturalist-In-Residence In School programs,
as well as, community education classes, teacher training workshops, various adult tours and other educational
programs.