In 1982, The Nature Institute held its first Discovery Day Camp at Talahi Lodge on the Olin Nature Preserve. Because of dedicated volunteers and funding from benefactor Aune Nelson, who believed that children should learn about nature so they would grow up wanting to protect it, the camp has been successful for over a quarter-century.

Talahi Lodge is where many of our education programs take place. Once a residential YWCA summer camp, its facilities now include an interactive great room, two classrooms, the John Madson Memorial Library, a wrap-around porch with picnic tables, campfire ring, bathrooms, and full kitchen. The Olin Nature Preserve and other natural areas at TNI provide a beautiful outdoor classroom, complete with ponds, woods, prairies, sinkholes, bluffs, creeks, and streams.