Merry Lea Environmental Center in northern Indiana is a one thousand one hundred fifty-acre protected reserve and the state's largest privately held land reserve. Operated by Goshen College as both a conservation landscape and educational site, it serves as a field laboratory for students studying ecology, environmental education, and agroecology, while also offering programs for elementary students from Fort Wayne and surrounding communities. Its varied terrain includes many ecosystems typical of northern Indiana, such as peat bogs, swamp maple forest, prairie, and lakeshore habitats. The site also features a prominent esker and Rieth Village, whose energy-efficient buildings support the center's environmental mission.