ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain

02/05/2025

Join us for Sensory-Friendly Sunday this weekend! From 9-10 am, admission is FREE for anyone with sensory-processing differences. The museum will be closed to the general public, and lighting and sounds will be adjusted to allow visitors to enjoy the museum in a calm environment. Interact with ECHO’s exhibits, visit the live animals, and access our KultureCity sensory backpacks! RSVP at https://echovermont.ticketing.veevartapp.com/tickets/view/list/sensory-sunday

02/04/2025

🥳 Celebrate your special day with the joy of exploration and discovery at ECHO!

Party packages start at $225 for ECHO Members ($275 for non-members) and include:
🎂2 hours of private space (Saturdays & Sundays, 10:30 am–12:30pm or 2–4 pm)
🎟️ Admission for 14 non-member guests (kids & adults)
🪑Set up of tables & chairs
💌 Printable invitations and thank-you notes
⚙️ Complete access to ECHO’s exhibits
🐧 Add-on: See a 3D film based on our film schedule, $3/person
🎨 Add-on: Face painting by
(Availability limited, please contact Kadina, http://www.littleartsyfaces.com, directly for scheduling.)
* Additional guests: $10 per adult and $8 per youth.

Learn more: https://www.echovermont.org/plan-your-visit/birthdays/

02/03/2025

Have you ever seen a Rube Goldberg machine?

These crazy chain-reaction contraptions use everyday objects to complete simple tasks in the most overcomplicated, inefficient, and hilarious ways possible!

Learn more about Rube Goldberg and his iconic inventions at Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention Exhibit! Activate and create crazy chain-reaction contraptions and find the fun in failure as you step into the role of illustrator, storyteller, and inventor now through September 7 at ECHO.

Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention Exhibit! is created by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh in partnership with the Heirs of Rube Goldberg.

Thank you to our local sponsor, Northfield Savings Bank!

02/02/2025

ECHO mourns the passing of Lois McClure, benefactor, former board member, and longtime friend. Lois's passion for Lake Champlain and science education helped shape ECHO. She leaves a legacy of helping Vermonters and uplifting the community. We will miss her directness and elegant presence in the world. We are grateful to have been a part of her story.

02/01/2025

February is Black History Month. Join ECHO as we celebrate amazing scientists selected for the American Association for the Advancement of Science IF/THEN Ambassador program, serving as high-profile role models for girls. Each has made significant contributions to STEM and beyond, inspiring future generations to pursue their passions.

Originally from California, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant is a large carnivore ecologist focused on how humans can influence the behavior and ecology of large carnivores. She credits all of her interest in ecology to TV that she watched as a child, piquing her interest in STEM and conservation from a young age. No stranger to travel, Dr. Rae Wynn Grant has been all over the world studying animals such as black bears, African lions, gorillas, chimpanzees, and grizzly bears. She is currently a fellow at the National Geographic Society with positions at the American Museum of Natural History as well as Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University where she can share her story and insights into her ecological findings.

Association of Science and Technology Centers

01/31/2025

Our all-new Into the Lake gallery is beginning to take shape! Here’s a peek behind the scenes at how our expert crew installed the viewing window in our brand new, 15,000-gallon Lake Tank.

Up next: sealing the acrylic window in place, installing heat exchangers, programming life support, and more!

01/30/2025

What do American eels eat? How do they swim all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Champlain? And why are researchers so interested in studying them?

Today, ECHO guests and field trip visitors joined special guest Dr. Rose Stuart and ECHO Animal Care Specialist Ben Gorbach to learn all about these incredible animals, their migration in the wild, and Rose’s work as a researcher in the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory studying eels.

Thank you Rose for stopping by to share your research and teach our guests about some of the incredible Lake Champlain science happening right next door!

01/29/2025

Our next Masks On Sunday is this weekend! From 9 - 10 am, discover and explore ECHO in a safe, masked environment during this dedicated time for those in our community who are most at risk — including but not limited to seniors, visitors with disabilities, or those with compromised immune systems. Note: everyone age 2 and older will be required to wear a mask. During this hour, admission is free. RSVP at https://echovermont.ticketing.veevartapp.com/tickets/view/list/masks-on-sundays

01/28/2025

What’s that coming through ECHO’s loading doors? Acrylic, of course!

Yesterday, a team of experts came together in our Into the Lake exhibit to unload and install the acrylic for our all-new, 15,000-gallon Lake Tank. Weighing in at an impressive 2,600 pounds (or approximately 42,000 baby turtles), this marquee window will greet guests as they enter the space and showcase a view of some of Lake Champlain’s most iconic aquatic residents, including our beloved Lake sturgeon.

The Lake Tank is coming together – but there’s a lot more to do before it’s ready for fish. Up next: sealing the new acrylic window in place, installing heat exchangers, programming life support, and more!

Send a message to learn more

01/27/2025

It's not every day you get to Zoom with a snake! Recently, Shannon Kane, ECHO's Animal Care & Exhibit Manager, did a virtual rat snake demo with fourth graders from Brookside Primary School and Ferrisburgh Central School. Students learned about the snake's characteristics, their status in the wild, and how we care for them at ECHO.

01/25/2025

What can you build with a Rigamajig? Anything!

Now through February 12, drop by our Engineer It Lab on the third floor to design a robot, engineer a building, or invent an all-new, one-of-a-kind contraption. The possibilities are endless!

Engineer It! challenges are free with admission or ECHO Membership. To participate, drop in at the Engineer It! Lab on the third floor of ECHO.

01/24/2025

Thank you to everyone who joined us last weekend for the opening of Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention! Exhibit at ECHO!

Inspired by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Rube Goldberg’s original illustrations and inventive storytelling, this exhibit contains a collection of new 3D, life-size machines and hands-on, interactive components that connect Rube’s hilarious cartoon contraptions to the way things work in the physical world.

Stop by ECHO now through September 7 to activate and create crazy chain-reaction contraptions and find the fun in failure as you step into the role of illustrator, storyteller, and inventor!

Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention Exhibit! is created by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh in partnership with the Heirs of Rube Goldberg.

Thank you to our local sponsor, Northfield Savings Bank!

01/23/2025

🥳 Exciting news -- ECHO's Member Mornings have been extended through May! We're excited to see you at ECHO during this special museum time just for you. Member mornings are every Saturday from 9-10 am. All exhibits and the museum store will be available to explore just for ECHO Members before the museum opens to the general public. Learn more at https://www.echovermont.org/series/member-mornings/

01/22/2025

It’s a whole new year and we have a lot of updates on our renovation!

Downstairs in our Into the Lake exhibit, work continues on getting our brand-new, 15,000-gallon Lake Tank ready for its aquatic inhabitants.

Over the past few weeks, the renovation & construction crew has been hard at work throughout the exhibit, including:

💧 Waterproofing inside the Lake Tank
🐟 Installing an all-new animal life support system
🔨 Constructing walls and preparing for paint
🔌 Installing electrical and lighting systems
🔍 Reviewing and finalizing exhibit design plans

Meanwhile, on the second floor, the Upper River tank recently received a fresh new concrete surface and is ready to be waterproofed over the coming days.

Things are moving fast and we have many more exciting updates (and a really big piece of acrylic) coming soon! For more behind-the-scenes content, keep an eye on our social media feeds or visit https://www.echovermont.org/animals-exhibits/into-the-lake-exhibit/

01/21/2025

📣 Last call for imagineers!

Applications to join our 2025 Summer Camp registration lottery close TOMORROW, January 22, at 11:59 pm. To apply, visit https://www.echovermont.org/events-programs/camps/

Submitting a lottery application is required but does not guarantee a space in ECHO Camp. ECHO Membership is required to join the lottery. Members not offered spots in camp will receive priority access to our 2025 Summer Camp waitlist.

Not an ECHO Member? Become a member today to receive exclusive access to our Summer Camp registration lottery, priority access to the Summer Camps waitlist, and a discount on camp registration. Learn more & become a member now at https://www.echovermont.org/join-support/membership/family-membership/

Questions? Check out the Camp FAQs on our website or email our Camps team at [email protected]

ECHO Camps are themed day camps that occupy that powerful place where passion for science and compassion for the earth meet. Activities can move from a behind-the-scenes observation of ECHO’s animal care activities to a lakeside game of tag or even an underwater robot-enabled search for Champ.

01/20/2025

⚙️🦕 ECHO will be open and free for the community today, Monday, January 20, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Come explore our exhibits, current animals on site, and our new special exhibit, Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention!

Please note: The Museum may have to temporarily limit capacity at certain times during the day.

01/19/2025

💛 Less than 2 weeks to participate in ECHO's YGWG Membership Matching program! Now thru January 31, whenever you buy, renew, or gift an ECHO membership, ECHO gives a membership to families in need.

A longtime partner, VT Dept. of Health, Burlington WIC office, had this to say: “...ECHO Open Door offers our families a wonderful opportunity that they may not have been able to access otherwise. The parents and caregivers we work with are so excited to get an ECHO pass so they can provide a fun and educational experience for their kids. As service providers, being able to offer the ECHO Open Door membership helps us to build relationships with our families, which means we can serve them more effectively. We love ECHO Open Door!”

Join now: https://www.echovermont.org/join-support/membership/family-membership/