About PEEC

The Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) is dedicated to sharing the nature of the Pajarito Plateau with people from Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the world. We serve 40,000 adults and children per year with the nature center; public programs such as talks, hikes, outings, and classes; school lessons and field trips; and our state-of-the-art planetarium.

PEEC is a nonprofit organization that operates the Los Alamos Nature Center under a contract for Los Alamos County. We are supported by your donations and memberships, by Los Alamos County, and by generous grant funders.

PEEC History:

PEEC has grown from humble beginnings, when a dozen citizens gathered around a dining room table to dream about ways to celebrate the natural world of Los Alamos. PEEC’s inception took place on Earth Day in 2000 and since then, the people of Los Alamos have made PEEC a home for nature on the Pajarito Plateau.

While the PEEC organization was born in 2000, it wasn’t until 2005 that PEEC was able to operate out of a physical space, when it took up residence as the PEEC Nature Center in a rented school building on Orange Street. The exhibits in the center for many years were the work of many dedicated community members and volunteers.

In 2012, Los Alamos County voted to build a new nature center, and the contract to run the center was awarded to PEEC. In early 2015, Los Alamos County finished construction on the $4.3 million showpiece building that sits elegantly perched atop the edge of a canyon steps from downtown Los Alamos. The new space, which included a planetarium, allowed PEEC to serve vastly more people, upwards of 40,000 annually since the center opened.