INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – The Tahoe Institute for Natural Science (TINS) is celebrating its 15th anniversary and the launch of 15 special sponsorship opportunities for individuals, businesses, and organizations committed to environmental education and conservation in the Tahoe region.  

Since its founding in 2010, TINS has evolved into a true force in connecting people with Tahoe’s natural world through science, education, and a multitude of community programs, guided walks, and events. Despite a staggering breadth of program areas, and an emphasis on excellence, quality, and providing the most up-to-date information possible, TINS also focuses on community and accessibility of their programs. Towards that goal, TINS seeks to remove barriers to experiencing nature whenever possible by partnering with other organizations to expand their audience reach, and by always keeping program fees low and securing grant funding to make many offerings completely free to participants. 

“Reaching this 15-year milestone gives us an opportunity not only to acknowledge our accomplishments to date, but also to take a strategic look forward, chart a path towards our ambitious goals ahead, and strengthen our programs for the future,” said Dr. Will Richardson, Co-founder and Executive Director of TINS. “The support of our community has been essential to our growth, and we hope that these 15th anniversary sponsorship opportunities will help build community relationships to ensure our work continues for decades to come.” 

15 Years of Impact 

Over the past decade and a half, TINS has established itself as an essential resource for environmental education and natural history information in the Tahoe Basin. TINS has proudly achieved the following milestones: 

• Education Excellence: Connected over 75,000 students with nature through innovative programs; oftentimes parents don’t realize that it’s TINS behind the cool lesson that students come home and report that they learned about “bats” that day for instance 
• Community Engagement: Hosted nearly 800 guided outings, nature walks, and natural history presentations, benefiting more than 17,000 participants 
• Research Achievements: Conducted extensive wildlife monitoring including banding over 7,000 birds across six research sites 
• Citizen Science Leadership: Coordinated annual wildlife counts and monitoring projects, like the annual Mid-Winter Bald Eagle Count, and maintaining the Tahoe Birding and Tahoe Wildflowers Facebook groups, boasting approximately 3,000 and 1,500 followers (and growing!), respectively 
• Publication Impact: Created dozens of research reports, presentations, and peer-reviewed journal publications, and widely-distributed nature activity books and educational materials that have reached thousands of local students and their families 
• Conservation Collaboration: Partnered with land managers across the region to inform critical conservation decisions 

15th Anniversary Sponsorship Opportunities 

In celebration of 15 years dedicated to environmental education, scientific research, and community engagement in the Tahoe region, TINS is offering 15 opportunities to support various impactful programs.  A range of sponsorship levels and partial sponsorship contributions provide many chances to directly fund vital programs and research. 

Examples of the 15 Highlighted Sponsorships and Projects include the following: 

• Inspire the Next Generation: TINS Education Fund – $30,000 
  Invest in vital educational programs that foster a love for nature among youth in Tahoe and create future stewards for the region.  
• A Year in Bloom: Sponsor the Tahoe Wildflower Big Year – $5,000  Support this year-long celebration and study of Tahoe’s botanical diversity, including critical, collaborative work updating a field guide to the region. 
• Every Band Tells a Story: Help Us Monitor Tahoe’s Birds – $10,000  Contribute to the ongoing bird banding program, vital for tracking migratory patterns and population trends while providing a priceless education opportunity for students to see live birds up close and field research in action. 
• Unlock the Wild: Sponsor a Camper’s Journey – $250 
  Provide scholarships for children to attend TINS’ immersive summer camps, fostering connections with both nature and new friends. 

Visit the website for more additional sponsorship opportunities to support TINS: tinsweb.org/15-year-anniversary 

“The partnerships we form during our 15th anniversary year will have such a positive impact in shaping our next chapter,” said TINS Board Member Kristine Mitchell. “As we work toward our vision of a world-class nature center in the Tahoe region, we are excited about the growing community support that provides crucial momentum.” 

15th Anniversary Commemoration 

TINS will mark its 15th anniversary with a special event in November 2025, with details to be announced. This milestone event will bring together supporters, partners, and community members to reflect on 15 successful years of important conservation work and environmental education in the Tahoe region. 

For those interested in getting involved, there are many programs to check out, including nature camps for kids and many wildflower outings all summer long as part of the 2025 Tahoe Wildflower Big Year. Visit http://www.tinsweb.org/15-year-anniversary to review the current sponsorship opportunities or contact TINS directly at info@tinsweb.org or 775-298-0060.