Lehigh Gap Nature Center announced on Earth Day, April 22, that applications are now available for students to apply for admission to its Young Ecologist Summer Camp June 23-27. The camp is a day camp in which the students study nature for the week.

Students who are currently completing grades six and seven and are interested in nature are eligible to attend the camp. Students who attended the camp previously are not eligible because the Nature Center wants to extend the opportunity for this experience to as many students as possible. The Ecology Camp operates from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday of camp week.LGNC raises money through grants and donations to make the camp affordable to all. The registration fee is only $50, while the true cost of the camp is over $250 per student. Support is provided for the camp by PPL Corporation, Horsehead Community Development Fund, Julius & Kathryn Hommer Foundation, Woman's Club of Slatington and Lehigh Gap Nature Center volunteers. The $50 registration fee is waived for students who receive free or reduced-price lunches in school.Camp activities during the week include identifying birds, trees, butterflies and other critters, hiking to Bake Oven Knob, learning about raptors with live birds from Carbon County Environmental Education Center, building bluebird nest boxes, studying pond and river creatures, and other nature-related activities. Each student receives a free backpack, notebook, pens and emergency rain poncho.Contact the Nature Center for an application at

lgnc@ptd.net or 610-760-8889.The Lehigh Gap Nature Center is a member-supported, wildlife conservation and environmental education organization with its office located at the Osprey House in Lehigh Gap. For more information about the center and its programs, contact them or check their website at

http://lgnc.org.