Science Delivery

The Ankeny Hill Nature Center is also a science delivery center. 

How is science a part of our everyday lives; how is it a benefit; and how can I do science?  You can.  Here. 

Whether it's contributing to climate science or tracking migratory birds via the Motus app, we hope you learn something new and we welcome your help in finding the answers to questions we don't know so we can support wildlife and people.

Where do bats spend their lives?  How do we adapt to a changing climate?  How many native bees are there in Oregon?
Join us, scientist!

Pollinator Patch

Native plants and native pollinators thrive in the Nature Center’s Pollinator Patch! Pick up a bloom calendar to find your favorite native plants! Learn how hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, and 600+ native bees are crucial to pollinating the plants that add beauty to our lives and put food on our tables. Our Patch also provides ways for visitors to produce works of art with rubbings, stencils, and photographs.

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Lighting Limits

Join the fight against light pollution with DarkSky. We believe in the importance of preserving the night sky and protecting bird migration. You can be part of this important mission and get involved in educational opportunities, scientific discoveries, and help build a brighter future and a safe haven for the millions of birds traveling through the night sky.

Motus Migration

Track the movements of wildlife with the Motus Migration Tracker. This powerful tool is designed for radio telemetry, wildlife tracking, and mapping migrations over long distances. It comes with multiple receivers, making it the perfect choice for scientists, conservationists, and wildlife enthusiasts. With the Motus Migration Tracker, you can gain valuable insights into the behavior of animals and protect their habitat.

Weather Watching

Oregon Season Tracker (OST), a program of the Oregon State University Extension Service, links volunteers, natural resource managers, educators, and researchers to the science they use CoCoRaHS is a non-profit, community-based network of volunteers working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow).  Their aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications.

Ankeny Hill Nature Center staff and volunteers serve a climate observers recording and reporting daily precipitation for OST and for CoCoRaHS.org, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow NetworkOregon Season Tracker and CoCoRaHS weather data from the Nature Center is contributed to climate science research in Oregon and nationally.

Egrets at ANWR

Avian Awareness

Discover the world of birding and the science of ornithology through current articles and links to research produced and published in partnership with Avian Knowledge Northwest, the Avian Knowledge Network, eBird, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and related organizations. Share your bird sightings with eBird, the world’s largest birding community