UC Biology celebrates donation to expand nature preserve

Cincinnati developer Dan Neyer, owner of Neyer Properties, donated the property that borders UC’s 65-acre forest in the Cincinnati suburb of Montgomery.

“It was the right thing to do,” Neyer said. “It’s of more value to UC and the community than it is to me.”

Led by classmate E. Lucy Braun, UC biology students raised money and bought the property in the 1920s as the Hazelwood Botanical Preserve and turned it over to the city and eventually to UC. Later it was named for Professor Harris Benedict, who along with a daughter died in a crash with a Cincinnati streetcar in 1928.

“Lucy Braun became one of the most important forest ecologists of all time,” Culley said. “She was a founding member of the Nature Conservancy. She was the third woman to receive a PhD from UC. Her sister, Annette, was the first.”

Culley said UC plans to offer more public programs at the nature preserve. For example, the department is working with Sycamore High School to use telemetry to study the habitat needs of box turtles in the preserve, she said.

“They put a little bottlecap telemetry device on the shells of the turtles and students use radio signals to track the movement of the turtles,” Culley said.

“It’s great that it adds to the long legacy of the park here,” Neyer said.

Neyer said people value having open space in their community. Neyer Properties preserved some of the largest oak trees for an Oakley project called Three Oaks, he said. Neyer Properties also is responsible for the mixed-use Montgomery Corridor Project, which includes office, retail, a hotel and 240 apartments, Neyer said.

“Instead of putting in pavement and homes, they want some community gathering places, which are what parks are all about,” he said.

Featured image at top: UC Interim Associate Dean Theresa Culley and Neyer Properties owner Dan Neyer talk about the expanded nature preserve. Photo/Michael Miller