As human development increasingly puts pressure on the natural environment, research into how to mitigate damage will be more vital than ever. Despite this, society chooses to ignore the advice of experts and disregard the remedies that they propose. By bringing the public and scientists together both groups will be positively benefited. To address this problem, this thesis proposes an ecological conservation center on the waterfront of Thunder Bay, ON.The impact that we as humans have on our surroundings is startling. Our environment faces numerous issues that, while not all have a basis in our blunders, but will pose an obstacle to be overcome. A hard reevaluation of how humans should react is needed and just as important, a way to increase the efficiency and success of these responses. By removing the barriers that the public has from the scientific process several outcomes will be improved. Bringing these into a single space will help to do this because people will be more aware and willing to assist with research and scientists will see a better realization of their work. Employing qualitative research and logical argumentation will help to unearth the best routes to a successful design. Gathering interviews from appropriate individuals and looking at relevant case studies will inform how best to respond to the needs of the site and the client. Exploring what this means will challenge currently held conservation researcher’s and designer’s beliefs of the supposed right answer and result in a more responsive and successful space for experts in the environmental topics and those who seek out what they have discovered. The site’s prominent location, where the city meets the water, has an opportunity to demonstrate how development can act harmoniously with the environment it sits in. Through the research and design done for this thesis the issues that biologists face and a building that meets the demanding needs required to tackle their problems.