As the Lloyd Center prepares for the year ahead, executive director Rachel Stronach said her staff is in good spirits after a “big year” like 2015.

“I think, in general, people’s appreciation of the natural world has been on an upward trend,” said Stronach, noting the solar panels popping up around town. “You hear a lot about environmental issues in the news, so people are looking to places like the Lloyd Center more.”

Last year marked the center’s first-ever capital campaign. The goal was to raise $3 million to help improve the facilities at their location at 430 Potomska Road as well as add a new building that can be used as both a greeting area for students and a teaching tool in green infrastructure.

Currently, the center has raised more than $1.5 million toward its campaign.

The goal is to make the welcome center Living Building Challenge certificated, which means the building must be deemed net neutral, in that it must be able to collect water, produce energy and house composting toilets.

“The Living Building we’re working on has been in the design phase for most of 2015, but, hopefully in the fall, we’ll be looking at construction for that building,” she said.

This long-term goal will take several years to complete. Currently, the staff is planning on other facility improvements, like a new roadway, to begin in the summertime.

The capital campaign will also be used to fund and expand educational programming.

Following years of concerted effort to reach out into the community, the group has drawn more people to the center through year-round activities, including family-friendly trips through the natural settings surrounding the center.

“We’re still trying to engage the community. There’s still a number of people who haven’t been here before,” said Stronach. “We’re going to make an effort to get more of those people in to get to know us.”

This winter, the center will continue to focus heavily on school outreach. The center has its own education team that visits school districts throughout the region to teach students about various topics relating to the environment.

“We work district-wide in Dartmouth with third grade classrooms with the ‘Feathery Focus’ program. Each classroom has a visit once a month from a Lloyd Center educator, and they teach about more complex concepts in science using birds because it’s something all the students are familiar with,” said Stronach.

Fifth graders in Dartmouth will also visit the center as part of their “Turn the Tide” program, which explores weather and the water cycle using Dartmouth as an example.

Meanwhile, environmental research continues at the Lloyd Center.

Research associate Jamie Bogart said 2015 was marked by a good nesting season for the endangered piping plover. Bogart meticulously tracks the bird’s mating season and other rare species populating various Lloyd properties.

“We had a good amount of predators at some sites, including Demarest Lloyd and West Island, but we did pretty well,” said Bogart. “We had great success on Horseneck, including a large tern count that’s growing.”

In a post prepared for the Lloyd Center’s website, Bogart wrote that 25 pairs of piping plovers were accounted for between Horseneck Beach, Demarest Lloyd State Park and West Island. With 23 hatchlings, Horseneck had the “highest fledge total since 1999.”

Stronach plans to keep the momentum going throughout the new year. Even in the winter months, the center has some excursions planned for outdoor enthusiasts, including an event in February dubbed the “Owl Prowl” in which Bogart will lead a bird-watching group during the late night hours.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support from the community and from key stakeholders,” said Stronach. “It’s been wonderful.”