What is the Pisgah Forest Institute?

The Pisgah Forest Institute, more commonly known as PFI, was formed in 1999 through the vision and efforts of Brevard College, western North Carolina Congressman Taylor and his office, the USDA Forest Service, and Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association.  The main reason for the formation of the PFI consortium was to provide workshops that address the earth and environmental science needs educators encounter in their classrooms.

Since 2000 PFI has offered as many as seven summer workshops along with in-service workshops during the academic year, and a distance learning workshop. From 2000 until 2009 the workshops that PFI offered were fully funded by the USDA Forest Service and overseen by the Education and Research Consortium of the Western Carolinas. The 2010 workshop season was the last season funded by the USDA Forest Service. In fact, the funding for the 2010 season was a result of savings by the PFI staff from the 2008-2009 grant cycle. As a result, PFI had to institute participant fees that are used to offset some of our operating costs.

The goal of PFI is to provide a "teach the teacher" environmental science program that utilizes the forest as a laboratory.  Each workshop brings together a collection of experts, lessons, activities, supplemental information, and other invaluable resources to empower educators with the knowledge and skills to return to their classrooms and provide their students with earth and environmental science instruction that capitalizes on the environmental steward in us all.

PFI operates at Brevard College under the Appalachian Center for Environmental Education (ACEE). ACEE not only provides teacher education through PFI, but student education as well. ACEE sponsors ecological field trips for students, faculty, and the general public. Many of these field trips are international trips run by professionals such as college faculty members with special expertise. ACEE also provides field trips and summer science camps for middle and high school students, which are modeled after the successful PFI workshops. Visit the ACEE website www.appenved.org to learn more about these opportunities.