Features and Events
Volunteers needed to hack Honeysuckle at Silvoor Biological Sanctuary
Are you ready to work in the woods? Join us for our annual Fall Honeysuckle Hacks in Silvoor Biological Sanctuary! We need volunteers to help remove this woody shrub and other non-native invasive plants out of our wildflower preserve. Volunteers will meet organizers at Peffer Park and go through a quick orientation before getting started.
- Saturday, Nov. 4 (Noon-2 p.m.)
- Saturday, Dec. 2 (Noon-2 p.m.)
Contact Amanda Brymer at bentleal@MiamiOH.edu with questions.
2023 Hike-A-Thon
The 2023 Hike-A-Thon was held on September 9, and attracted over 500 Miami University students and area residents. This year's Hike-a-Thon commemorated the progress of the Oxford Area Trail System (OATS), a paved multi-use path that now extends from Peffer Park, past the DeWitt trailhead, to Leonard Howell Park. Many of the unpaved Natural Areas trails intersect OATS, and participants also walked some of these trails.
Miami University Natural Areas behind the scene(ry): a Q-and-A with ecologist Dave Gorchov and field manager Nancy Feakes
With nearly 1,000 acres and 17 miles of trails in our backyard, the Natural Areas are an invaluable resource for recreation, teaching, and research, by Susan Meikle, University Communications and Marketing.
Biology and Sustainability junior investigates effects of the overabundant deer population in the Natural Areas and Ecology Research Center
Elea Cooper ‘24 is working to investigate deer abundance and its impact on tree regeneration.
Oxford Stories
How wildlife impacts humans and how humans impact wildlife. Read the article.
Bobcat Sighting in Natural Areas
A trail camera placed and monitored by Miami University students captured a video of a bobcat, the first known photograph of this elusive and solitary animal taken in Miami’s Natural Areas.
Read Sam Norton's article in The Miami Student Magazine Spring 2023 about the significance of this bobcat sighting.
Deer Management Program to Continue in 2023-24
Following the successful harvest of 20 deer in the 2022-2023 deer bow hunting season, we are again soliciting hunters to help reduce the deer population in the Natural Areas and Ecology Research Center during the 2023-24 deer bow hunting season. Hunting will be permitted in a couple of additional areas, and the hunting season of Nov. 18 to Feb. 4 will be divided into three separate permit periods, allowing three to four weeks of hunting per selected hunter.
More information:
