The Nature Center has many facilities that are designed to enhance the experiences of visitors and students. The Dr. John D. Brumbaugh Visitors Center (1991) includes displays on natural history, a classroom, restrooms, and access to the Bird Observatory. The Bird Observatory (2001) provides year-round viewing of birds and resources to better appreciate them. The Koch Environmental Learning Center (2002) was added to the Visitors Center to provide a classroom, laboratory, library, and an office for the naturalist. The most recent addition to the Visitors Center is a multi-purpose pavilion (2016). An operations building (1989), bank barn (1860s) and an educational garden (2004) are also used to support our mission. Altogether, these facilities provide many opportunities for visitors and students to enjoy and learn about nature.
Nature Center facilities are not available for public rental. Facilities are reserved for Nature Center and University of Mount Union activities only. The Facility Use Policy describes facility use and priority. To reserve a facility, please fill out the Facilities Request Form.
Visitors Center and Bird Observatory
The Dr. John D. Brumbaugh Visitors Center includes displays on natural history, a classroom, restrooms, and access to the Bird Observatory. Most programs, lectures, and workshops meet in the Visitors Center. Visit the information desk in the lobby for paper copies of the Nature Center's trail map and newsletter, view program and event information, and register for programs and events in person.
The Bird Observatory provides year round viewing of birds, and resources to better appreciate them, in a quiet and comfortable setting. The Visitors Center is open all year.
NOVEMBER THROUGH MARCH:
Tuesday through Friday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sunday: 1 - 5 p.m.
Closed: Monday and Saturday
APRIL THROUGH OCTOBER:
Tuesday through Friday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 1 - 5 p.m.
Closed: Monday
Koch Environmental Learning Center
The Koch Environmental Learning Center provides classroom, library, and office space at the John T. Huston-Dr. John D. Brumbaugh Nature Center of the University of Mount Union. The Learning Center is the gift of Dr. Robert Spitzer, in memory of his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Koch ’58.
The Koch Environmental Learning Center includes a library, a classroom, and laboratory space. It is used by Mount Union classes, visiting school groups, adult programs, and workshops.
The space of the facility nearly doubled the size of the original Visitors Center and vastly increases our potential for more hands-on lab work with students.
University of Mount Union students in courses such as ecology and environmental science, as well as a variety of other academic disciplines, use the lab at the Koch Environmental Learning Center. The lab’s location at the Nature Center allows access to many field sites just outside the door.
The library in the Koch Environmental Learning Center contains hundreds of volumes on natural history and other topics related to the site. Most of the books are cataloged in the Mount Union Library Catalog and are available for students on campus and elsewhere through interlibrary loan.
Properties
The main property of the Nature Center encompasses 162 acres of land in Washington Township, 32 of which were bought at auction in 2003 and another 20 acres were purchased from a neighboring landowner in 2014.
The original portion of the property (110 acres) was donated by Dr. John D. Brumbaugh in 1986 and is divided into three main areas of growth. The "New Woods" on the western edge of the property are no more than 60 years old. These trees have grown back from cultivated farmland since the 1960s. The "Middle Woods" regenerated from a heavily grazed pasture. This area was too steep and rugged for cultivation. The "Old Woods" are virgin timber to Ohio. This area at the eastern end of the Nature Center has only ever been lightly pastured and never cleared of its trees.
THE NORTH WOODS
The North Woods Property contains 18 acres of agricultural field and 14 acres of forest and meadow. This area contains the Children’s Hands-on Educational Garden, observation tower, labyrinth, honeybee yard, and a bluebird trail. Gardening programs are offered throughout the growing season for all ages. The site is also used for research on topics such as rainwater runoff, edge effects, plot size, and species interactions.
JAMES AND ESTHER BALL RESEARCH FOREST
The James and Esther Ball Research Forest, also known as Con-Angi, is especially important to our research because it is located outside of the area of glaciation. It is characterized by being hillier than the other properties and it contains a large coniferous stand. Con-Angi is only 22.5 acres and is not open to the public. This property was donated by James and Esther Ball to the Nature Center in 1995 in the form of a gift purchase.