Certified Interpretive Guide Training Workshop

May 20-23 or August 19-22, 2013
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Oxley Nature Center

The Mary K. Oxley Nature Center Association, in partnership with the National Association for Interpretation, is offering a professional certification course for individuals who deliver interpretive programs or have public contact at interpretive sites.

The CIG Program

The Certified Interpretive Guide program is designed for anyone who delivers interpretive programs to the public. In four intense days we learn both the “why” as we focus on the theoretical foundations of the profession, and the “how” as we hone our practical skills in delivering quality interpretive programming to visitors.

Click Here For CIG Flyer

Click Here For Registration Form

4th of July North American Butterfly Count

Join us at Oxley on Tuesday, July 2nd to spot, count, tally and identify butterflies. Information gathered is used to supplement the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) 4th of July Butterfly Count held annually in June and July. Citizen scientists participate in local counts, increase their own knowledge, raise public awareness and contribute valuable data about butterfly populations.

We will meet at 8:30 a.m. and count until dusk, weather permitting. You are welcome to participate in all or part of the count. Please bring a lunch, water, hat and binoculars if you have them. Meet at the front desk at Oxley Nature Center. No experience is necessary. You’ll work in teams with experienced naturalists counting in different areas.

Please call and register by June 27th so teams can be assembled and The Friends of Oxley will pay your $3 count fee.

Click here for results of the Spring 2013 Count

New for the Nature Center’s Nature Store

Magic T-shirts!! Magic T-Shirts® are black and white indoors and burst into color in the sun. They return to black and white without the sun.

Click here to for more info on these new products!

New Book Titles and Audio Book/CD’s to Explore

6th Annual Autumn Butterfly Count

You Can Be a Citizen Scientist!

Join us at Oxley on Friday, September 30h to spot, count, tally and identify butterflies. Information gathered is used to supplement the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) Summer Butterfly Count held annually in June and July. Citizen scientists participate in local counts, increase their own knowledge, raise public awareness and contribute valuable data about butterfly populations.

We will meet at 8:30 a.m. and count until dusk, weather permitting. You are welcome to participate in all or part of the count. Bring a lunch, water, hat and binoculars if you have them. Meet at Oxley Nature Center.

No experience is necessary. You’ will work in teams with experienced naturalists counting in different teams in different areas.

Please call and register in advance so teams can be assembled! The $3 fee will be waived if you register by September 26.

Count Results from 2010

Spring Butterfly-Count  Summer Butterfly Count  Autumn Butterfly Count

How the City of Tulsa’s budget cuts still
affect Oxley Nature Center

Want more open days? (Yes, Oxley Nature Center closes on every City holiday now.) Want to bring all your 5^th graders on a single fieldtrip? (Yes, we’ve had to scale back to smaller group sizes on guided fieldtrips.) Do you miss the Nature Center’s astronomy programs? Let your City councilor know. Every time unexpected sales tax revenues are reported, the Mayor’s staff assigns those funds to where the citizens have indicated they want their tax money spent.

Oxley Nature Center has always operated with a very small full-time staff directing and expediting the efforts of the seasonal and volunteer staff. The Nature Center last divided the work among 4 people in the 1980s, and Redbud Valley Nature Preserve was not a part of that former schedule. In some ways, we have had to scale operations back to 1980s levels. In other ways, the new fiscal reality is sinking in, that sales tax revenues alone are not going to be able to fund what they used to.

We have gone back to smaller school groups coming on guided tours. Oxley Nature Center’s school programs are no longer free of charge. Fortunately, a generous private donor provides some funding to help defray bus expenses for fieldtrips to Oxley Nature Center; we do request that teachers ask their parent-teacher organizations first.

There are fewer weekend programs being offered, and the monthly astronomy programs are still on hold. In order to be good stewards of our resources we ask that a minimum number of participants pre-register 48 hours in advance for programs requiring supplies or a great deal of preparation time. The staff has to consider each request for a program carefully now, and has to say no more often than we like.

On the positive side, neither Oxley Nature Center nor Redbud Valley Nature Preserve has had to reduce any of the hours or days that it is open, other than the mandatory furlough days for a few years. We only had to cancel a few previous commitments and bookings. We have continued to offer several new programs and host new special events as well as some of the old favorites. Although workshop fees reflect the rising costs of materials, the basic program fee remains very low, and there are still 4 free programs available every month. Oxley Nature Center’s excellent seasonal and volunteer staff has continued to step forward to fill in when and where they can.

What else can you do to help? Oxley Nature Center’s volunteer staff is always looking for another good recruit; even just a few hours each month can be a big help. Check out the “volunteers” link to find out what you might be able to do. Become a Member of The Friends of Oxley Nature Center. It’s one of the best bargains in town! Not only do Members get discounts, the Oxley Nature Center Association fills in many little gaps in the Nature Center’s budget. The Friends group works on big projects too, like raising money for new exhibits and the recent remodeling of the Interpretive Building.

Attention Teachers!

Click here for information on school programs.

Oxley Nature Center just a few tour dates left for this spring, so call now to reserve a spot. Here is your chance to book an award-winning tour for your class. You may choose among several topics. The Riddle of the Woods is written for upper elementary students, and presents the lesson of energy flow from sun to producers to consumers to decomposers in the form of a mystery to be solved. BioF.A.D., which stands for Biologist For A Day, is designed to allow middle school students a chance to find out what it is like to be a field biologist as they rotate among 4 stations gathering data as citizen scientists. A Pathfinder tour offers younger students the chance to earn a badge as they hone their observation skills. A General Discovery tour can be designed for any age, and may incorporate any natural history topic you wish to introduce or emphasize.