Ozark Natural Science Center

08/31/2026

Fresh newsletter out! 🍂

We're sharing the full 2026 lineup for the 5th Annual Bear Hollow Hootenanny (October 16–18), weekend pass options, lodging info, and a few thoughts on why this time of year — watching the leaves change right here on campus — is one of our favorites.

Read the full newsletter here: https://www.onsc.us/so/b2Q0q8GCo

Grab tickets here: https://www.onsc.us/events-1/5th-annual-bear-hollow-hootenanny

We'd love to see you at Bear Hollow this fall!

08/26/2026

In honor of reaching a huge milestone, we’re throwing it back to our roots. These pictures show the magnitude of impact that can unfold from a group of people coming together for the greater good. We found a box of these photo gems and had so much fun going through them — each picture holds so many memories.

Today we’re making more memories. We have officially raised over $100,000 toward our goal of becoming a renewable solar energy powered nature center. This week The Stitt Group came out and staked proposed panel locations, the first physical sign that this vision is becoming reality. We have $25k left to go to get shovels in the ground, so we’re still in fundraising mode over here, and we’re equally grateful for all the support we have gotten and will get.

Ozark Natural Science Center was put in motion by the Ewing family over 35 years ago. Their vision along with the hard work of so many has brought this mission to life. Every camper who has hiked these trails, every teacher who has brought a class through these woods, and every donor who has believed in this place is part of the story they started.

Solar power is a big part of the next chapter, powering the next 35 years of connecting people to the Ozarks. We will be doing our best to pay it forward, the same way this first generation did for us.

08/26/2026

Our team’s been recharging and reinventing between the end of summer camps and the start of fall programs. One of many changes: we are excited to announce the promotion of Chloe Hurt from Lead Teacher Naturalist to Education Coordinator.

This week they have been all-in on planning a National Environmental Education Foundation grant — which will offer a series of pre-experience, field-experience, and post-experience offerings for EAST students across four Springdale schools. This program is an exciting opportunity to focus on the depth of impact when we’re able to connect with students across these three touchpoints, in and out of the classroom, and really inspire and integrate their experience in nature.

From our offices, to the trails, to the rivers and classrooms, Chloe’s making the difference happen. Thank you, Chloe, NEEF, and our school partners for supporting our mission and impacting the lives of local students.

National Environmental Education Foundation Hellstern Middle School Helen Tyson Middle School Sonora Middle School GT JO Kelly Middle School

07/31/2026

Bailey Coffelt led us through one of the most beautiful habitats in our state yesterday: a sandstone glade. Easy to spend hours out there with someone who knows the area — the biodiversity and reptile activity on maintained glades is something to write home about.

Bailey is a Private Lands Biologist with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and earlier in her career she was one of our very own teacher naturalists. Today she works on preservation and restoration of these precious landscapes, including measures like prescribed burns.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission burns somewhere between 18,000 and 30,000 acres a year in order to keep Ozark prairies, glades, and open woodlands from filling in with brush and cedars.

Fire ecology is part of what our students learn in the field at Ozark Natural Science Center, and we appreciate our partnership with AGFC on these efforts.

And because we know you want to ask: our awesome new shirts are from Pack Rat Outdoor Center! They hooked us up with NRS gear, and our staff is feeling comfortable and fresh guiding on even the stickiest days. Thank you so much, Pack Rat!

07/29/2026

Foraging for sassafras, floating the Buffalo, and studying freshwater mussels.

Those ridges on a mussel shell are annual growth rings, just like a tree. Many Ozark mussels live 30 to 50 years or more, which makes every shell a decades-long record of water quality in that stretch of creek. One adult filters 10 to 15 gallons of water a day.

If you find one, look, then set it right back where you found it, siphon side up in the streambed. Several Arkansas mussel species are federally protected, so nothing leaves the water.

07/22/2026

Have you been in our hands-on science room at Main Campus? It is filled with natural history specimens, including fossils, furs, antlers, turtle shells, skulls, and a circular topographic model of the Ozarks.

The museum room is used for discovery-based learning, allowing students to investigate taxidermy, rocks, and biological artifacts up close during campus visits and field programs.

07/09/2026

A new chapter unfolds at the Ozark Natural Science Center with the arrival of its newly appointed CEO.

Ozark Natural Science Center is opening a new chapter with a new executive director and CEO

07/08/2026

We’ve been making some big announcements this week! Our Executive Director, Rose Brown, has been advancing ONSC forward for the past six years. She will move to Madison, WI later this month and will be dearly missed.

To fill her role, the board completed a nationwide competitive search and is pleased to announce the hire of Alex Foster as the new CEO of ONSC, who, it turns out, lives right here on the Kings River Watershed.

Links to newsletter announcements and more details are on our website at onsc.us. Thank you to everyone supporting our mission and all the work we do here at Ozark Natural Science Center.

07/05/2026

Tomorrow is a big day for ONSC! First, we’ll welcome our final ‘26 summer crew of 8–16-year-old campers to our main campus in Huntsville, AR. They’ll spend four nights with us in our lodges — hiking, learning, studying, playing, and adventuring on our land and the 14,500 protected acres we’re part of. These kids will leave exhausted in the best way.

We’re also kicking off an exciting new chapter for ONSC’s leadership. Our board and staff have spent months preparing for this transition with care, and there’s someone with more to share with you very soon. Watch your inbox — and if you’re not on our mailing list yet, head to onsc.us to sign up.

Then, it’s all about prepping for our Upper School Camp, where 10th–12th graders will make their way here for two weeks filled to the brim with challenges and expeditions for their expanding minds and bodies. From swift-water rescue to conservation science, we can’t wait for it all.

07/03/2026

It doesn’t take long for adults and kids alike who sit at our tables to realize how magic our Kitchen Manager is. Chef Hanna has a real touch with the work she does, and we are oh so appreciative. Here are a few comments we overheard from campers last week — they always say it best.

“I want to be a Hanna when I grow up”
“Things don’t seem that complicated here, except in the kitchen, that’s where the real work happens”
“The best part of ONSC is the food”
“This is the best lasagna”
“Oh my gosh my stomach is so happy”
“My dad is gonna love this”