Coordinate a Visit
To coordinate school or group tours, contact Steve Sullivan at 708-937-6253 (sulliv55@miamioh.edu). Your trip will be confirmed via email.
Hefner Museum of Natural History
Connecting you to the nature in your neighborhood...and the world.
The Hefner Museum of Natural History uses exhibits, collections and specimens, and interactive programs to teach visitors of all ages about animal biodiversity, conservation, and ecology.
Museum Hours and Visiting Information
The Hefner Museum is open to the public from 9am-4pm Monday - Friday.
The Museum is closed on Miami University holidays, including March 24-28 for the University's Spring Break. You can see updated hours on our google page.
Discovery Trunks
Imaginarium
Phase one of the museum's OEEF-funded renovation to the Imaginarium is complete, and the Imaginarium has re-opened! Come by and see the beautiful magnetic murals created by scientific illustrator and artist Julia Ferguson, and the hissing cockroaches in the new "Bugs Rule the World" exhibit.
Museum institutes pause on accepting dead birds
Out of an abundance of caution, the Hefner Museum will, for the time being, stop accepting dead birds from the general public. We continue to consult with the public on best practices to reduce premature mortality in wild birds, including strategies to minimize window strikes, feline predation, and other common causes of bird death. With migration season beginning, it is likely that people will encounter birds that have died for all the usual reasons--especially bad weather, exhaustion, collision with human-made objects, and cats. For the time being, we suggest you leave the carcasses untouched. If you have questions about any of this, including a specimen you think may be of particular scientific value, please contact the Museum. The Museum issues this pause on accepting wild bird carcasses out of an abundance of caution. Bird flu has been widespread in wild bird populations and commercial cattle operations for several years now, but increasing rates of infection in commercial poultry operations in our area combined with Ohio’s first bird flu case in a human suggest that reducing exposure to dead birds is advisable. We want to reiterate that the risk is minimal, cooked bird products are safe (cooking kills the disease) and the general public do not seem to be at any risk.
Full Statement on Bird fluView Our Past Hefner Lectures
50th Hefner Lecture: Our Wild Future
How Animals Make Our World - November 2024
Speaker Joe Roman, Ph.D. is a biologist at the University of Vermont and author of "Eat, Poop, Die." He researches and teaches about the value of species conservation to human wellbeing. His discoveries have been published in prestigious scientific journals and featured in the popular press.
Free for All Ages - Reception at Hefner Museum Follows Lecture
Watch RecordingOur Staff
Staff members are available Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm, to help Miami faculty and staff incorporate specimens and exhibits into their classrooms or research programs. Faculty and staff are encourage to contact the Hefner to arrange a class visit, review and select specimens for classroom or lab use, and check out museum Discovery Trunks or other resources.
Steve Sullivan, Director
513-529-4617
sulliv55@MiamiOH.edu
Sullivan serves as the Director of the Hefner Museum of Natural History. Steve's passion for museums as a teaching tool began at an early age. By high school, he had transformed his parent's basement into "Steve's Museum"—a place where local kids could come to learn about the nature in their neighborhood through examining the living and preserved specimens Steve had collected. At Brigham Young University, while majoring in zoology and conservation biology, Steve worked at the university's museum of natural history, and volunteered at the museums of art and paleontology, and took courses through the museum of anthropology, learning more about the technical aspects of running a professional research and display institution.
Carla Blackmar, Exhibitions, Graphics, Cur. Tech.
513-529-8577
blackmc3@MiamiOH.edu
Blackmar brings a diverse background in communications, ecology and design to her work at the Hefner Museum. A lifelong gardener who has lived on both coasts, Carla is working to learn the flora and fauna of the Midwest while designing exhibits, communications materials and signage for the museum. Carla holds a BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University, and a MA in City Planning from San Diego State University.
Give to the Hefner Museum of Natural History
Help us continue to teach visitors of all ages about animal biodiversity, conservation, and ecology.
Hefner Museum of Natural History
100 Upham Hall
Bishop Circle
Oxford, OH 45056
