Mobile Environmental Learning Lab To Hit Pittsburgh Streets

PITTSBURGH, PA — Plans were released Tuesday - Earth Day - for a new environmental education learning lab, dubbed Nature On Wheels, that will hit the streets around the Greater Pittsburgh area next year.

A venture of the Allegheny Land Trust, Nature on Wheels will consist of a hybrid truck that will pull a custom-designed modular trailer. The trailer will be outfitted with interactive learning elements to engage learners of all ages with evolving and adaptable programming tailored to the age of a given audience, the program topic and/or the season.

"Our education team prides ourselves on providing all-ages nature-based programs in classrooms, at community centers, online and of course on our lands; this variety of locations has allowed many in the region to come learn with us," said Julie Travaglini, the trust's senior director of education and curriculum. "Now, Nature On Wheels will allow us to bring our programming to even more of our neighbors to increase access for additional learners."

The mobile learning lab will bring hands-on, all ages programs to communities across the Pittsburgh region at school events, camps, community festivals, conferences and like events.

The build-out and design of Nature On Wheels was led by Cannon Design, a global architecture design firm with an office in Pittsburgh. Cannon Design chose the trust's Nature On Wheels to be a 2025 "Open Hand Studio" project; Open Hand Studio is CannonDesign's public interest design arm that partners with nonprofits to advance important missions across education, health, economic development, racial and social equity and beyond.