At Ney Nature Center, we’re all about growing, learning, and working together to create one-of-a-kind experiences for our community. Every year, we are so excited for the Minnesota Naturalist Association (MNA) Conference—a big event that brings together environmental educators, naturalists, and outdoor lovers from all over Minnesota. It’s a place to learn, connect, and get Read more »

With the temperature outside slowly going down, bears are getting ready for winter. Not drown or black bears, woolly bears! You may have noticed more of what many refer to as woolly bear caterpillars in the fall, but how much do you really know about these adorable insects? There are many different types of “woolly Read more »

Welcome to the end of Spooky Season!  With all of the Halloween decorations that have bats in them, I thought that this would be a great time to talk about these amazing creatures. While all of the species of bats that live in MN are insectivores, bats are also excellent pollinators and seed dispersers world Read more »

When young visitors explore our education building for the very first time, there is so much for them to look at. Their eyes wander across the various types of taxidermy displayed around the main room, they check in with each of our friendly ambassador animals, and oftentimes, they share surprised reactions to our landfill and Read more »

The mission of Ney Nature Center is to inspire appreciation and respect for nature, and as we approach 2025 we want to recognize and acknowledge one of the biggest moments in the origin of the nature center, the discovery of the deformed frogs in Ney’s frog pond in 1995. In the 30th year since this Read more »

Greetings from Ney Nature Center! We are preparing for our 16th annual Fall Fling Fundraiser.   As I reflect back to the first ever Fling fundraiser, I am overwhelmed by how far this amazing event has come.  The board, with me newly hired into my position as a part time director, was ready to begin Read more »

This month at our Lifelong Learner Lunch we talked about volcanoes.  We covered how they formed, the differences between various kinds of volcanoes,  some famous eruptions, and how scientists predict eruption.  This is a fun topic, as it helps us to understand more of the processes of plate tectonics as well as the landscapes we Read more »

With summer coming to an end and spiders looking for safe places to spend the winter, I wanted to take some time and try to break some common stereotypes about these incredible creatures. While many people may be uncomfortable around spiders, most spiders are harmless and beneficial in many ways.  With over 500 species of Read more »

Hello!  I wanted to take a moment today to talk about one of my favorite groups of birds, the Corvids.  Corvids are birds that are members of the crow family, and are renowned for their intelligence.  Myths and stories about corvids can be found in nearly all cultures.  Only 3 species of Corvids nest in Read more »

With their wavy leaves ending in pointed tips and their winged seeds floating through the air, maples are one of the most recognizable tree types at Ney. On many occasions over the past few months, working with different types of maple trees became a consistent part of my routine. Interacting with them taught me about Read more »