Hike-A-Thon Virtual Challenge

October 1 - November 1

The Hike-A-Thon is an annual celebration of hiking, nature, and exploring the great outdoors and has been hosted at Miami University Natural areas every fall for the past 12 years. To keep the tradition alive we'll host a virtual Hike-A-Thon challenge and expand from 1 day to 1 month and from 3 trails to include all local trails …

"Gardening Tips: Producing a Grocery in your Backyard"

October 14; 12 - 1:30 pm

The first part of this Conservatory's Learn it at Lunch Series will focus on food rescue — the act of leveraging food that would otherwise be thrown away to feed those in-need. You'll hear from a group of high school students that are bringing food rescue to southwest Ohio to provide every food group to the food insecure. The program concludes with the benefits of fresh, locally grown produce vs. grocery produce, some that may not be as widely known or considered by consumers when shopping …

"From Evolving Dragonflies to Invading Lanternflies: How Your Observations Can Lead to Amazing Discoveries"

October 21; 6:30 - 9 pm

If you are looking for a fun, socially distanced, all-ages activity, you might enjoy the Hefner Museum's iNaturalist BioBlitz. This is an easy app for any age or knowledge level that allows you to look at the nature in your neighborhood in a scientific way. Simply take a picture of any kind of organism then, using artificial intelligence and crowdsourcing, you can identify that organism and record your observations in a way that makes them scientifically useful. Community results will be discussed at the 46th annual Hefner Lecture, along with recognition of productive contributors, and the importance of citizen science data. Dr. Michael P. Moore and Dr. Carrie Seltzer will show how observations like yours make a difference to our understanding of the world …

"Layered Experiences: Brand and Storytelling in Design"

October 26; 4 pm

Speaker Elizabeth Vereker is the Brand Director at Studio O+A, the San Francisco interiors firm responsible for groundbreaking office environments that changed the way we think about work. A natural storyteller, problem solver and lifelong student of design, Elizabeth is helping shape the field of environmental graphics. Her work for notable clients such as McDonald's, Uber, Yelp, and Adidas has helped drive cultures and transform workplaces. Book designer, environmental artist, mentor, troubleshooter, dot connector — Elizabeth moves fluidly through various roles and mediums …