Cincinnati Nature Center expands conservation efforts by opening a new conservation field station

CINCINNATI, OH — Cincinnati Nature Center celebrated the new Marjorie & Chuck Drackett Conservation Field Station with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 10:00 a.m. at 6876 Gaynor Road in Goshen, Ohio, 45122.

Located at the Long Branch location, the field station will enable landowners who want to manage their own natural areas to learn the best, most effective practices. For homeowners planting native gardens, land managers handling invasive plants, or ecologists trying to find the best way to restore native habitat, the conservation field station will provide the space, knowledge, and collaborative resources to help.

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.  

Jeff Corney, Executive Director of Cincinnati Nature Center said, “This netzero, 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.” 

Cory Christopher, Director Conservation, points out that unique among nature centers, “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 conservationfocused research. In this way, we hope to see the field station fill the so-called “Research-Implementation” gap that still plagues conservation practice.” 

Present at the celebration were Clermont County Commissioner, Claire Corcoran, and State Representative, Jean Schmidt. Representative Schmidt presented the Nature Center with a letter of commendation, recognizing the opening of the Conservation Field Station and the organization’s commitment  to conservation education.

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

Cincinnati Nature Center engaged Emersion Design LLC for the design and Skanska for the construction management. 

"It's rewarding to help deliver a project that will have a lasting impact on conservation and environmental education throughout our region,” said Chris Hopper, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Skanska.