The Marjorie & Chuck Drackett Conservation Field Station

Cincinnati Nature Center hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, September 1 to celebrate the opening of the new conservation field station. The Marjorie & Chuck Drackett Conservation Field Station is located at Long Branch Farm in Goshen, Ohio.

Jeff Corney, Executive Director of Cincinnati Nature Center said, “This net-zero, state of the art campus will facilitate impactful ecological research, enhance our community-based conservation efforts, and increase our native plant nursery and seed bank for our conservation team, visiting researchers, and natural resource professionals including the University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University, The Nature Conservancy, and more."

‍

Center for Conservation’s Field Station

The new 4,000-square-foot Center for Conservation’s Field Station will serve as the gathering place for conservation activities like field research, native plant production, and restoration projects. The conservation field station will support ecological research in conjunction with academic partners across the region.

Uniquely, however, as Cory Christopher, Director Conservation, points out, “the field station at Cincinnati Nature Center will also provide a common gathering space for landowners and conservation practitioners—those individuals implementing data-based stewardship practices—to learn from and collaborate with academic partners who are leading conservation-focused research. In this way, we hope to see the field station fill the so-called “Research-Implementation” gap that still plagues conservation practice.”

The field station will enable landowners who want to manage their own natural areas to learn the best, most effective practices from the people who are working to develop and hone those practices. Indeed, whether one is a homeowner planting native gardens, a land manager managing invasive plants, or an ecologist trying to find the best way to restore native habitat, the conservation field station will provide the space, knowledge, and collaboration to help.

The Marjorie & Chuck Drackett Conservation Field Station includes a native seed processing and seed storage barn, lab workstations, equipment space, and additional plant cultivation hoop houses, along with program meeting space, office space, and restrooms.

‍

This milestone has been made possible entirely through the generosity of these donors:

• Kim & Susan Drackett

• Landen Family Foundation

• Growing Tree Foundation

• Melinda & Irwin Simon

• The Garber Family

• Sarah Anness Evans & Tommy Evans

• Barbara Mustoe-Monteith & Joel Monteith

• Tammy & Dave Alverson

• The Sutphin Family Foundation

• Carol & Rob Scallan

• The Nabama Foundation

‍

Cincinnati Nature Center engaged emersion DESIGN LLC for the design and Skanska for the construction management.

Click here to explore the ways you can support Cincinnati Nature Center's exciting future and mission of Inspiring Conservation.