Montana Natural History Center

Climate Solutions Week: Garden Tour & Seed Ball Workshop
2025-09-29 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | Montana Natural History Center
Date: Monday, September 29th
Time: 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Location: Montana Natural History Center
Cost: Free and open to the public
The Montana Natural History Center is honored to participate in Climate Smart Missoula’s Climate Solutions Week again this year! Check out all the great events happening from September 27th to October 5th on their website.
Join us at MNHC for a garden tour & seed ball workshop! Come tour our garden to learn tips for attracting pollinators, the impact of climate on native habitats, and how creating a native plant garden can help. You’ll take home your own native seed ball to get started!

miniNaturalist Pre-K Program
2025-09-30 10:00 - 11:00
The miniNaturalist pre-K program encourages curiosity for the natural world.
Dates: Every Tuesday, September – May
Time: 10:00-11:00 am
Location: Montana Natural History Center, 120 Hickory Street.
The miniNaturalist program encourages curiosity for the natural world through exploration and play. We sing songs, read books, play games, and develop skills with art and science tools. Each program begins with songs, movement, and stories. We then provide materials for learner directed discovery in our garden. We look for bugs and birds, color on rocks, build with branches, experiment with science tools and play with a variety of art materials.
Please bring clothes for outdoor play! We have some snow clothes to borrow.
Best for ages 2-4, though any age is welcome!
Cost: FREE!

Rooted at the Edge: Reading and Book Signing with Donna Erickson
2025-10-02 19:00 - 20:30
Date: Thursday, October 2
Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Location: Montana Natural History Center
Cost: Free, and open to the public
MNHC is excited to host author Donna Erickson for a reading and signing of her book, Rooted at the Edge: Ranching Where the Old West and New West Collide.
Rooted at the Edge paints a portrait of a ranching community in a threatened landscape steeped in history, conflict, and beauty.
Across the West rural lifestyles are increasingly compromised by suburbanization, economic hardship, and family dynamics; a way of life and a way of work are vanishing. Ranchland may be simultaneously cherished by a family for the life its members have made there and coveted by urban neighbors for open space. Community residents may love a place for its scenery and wildlife habitat while others wish it converted to a commercial parking lot. Complex ecological relationships can be bulldozed in a single afternoon. And the threats of climate change and shifting populations compromise the edge even more.
Light refreshments provided. This event is offered in partnership with Fact and Fiction.
About the Author: Donna Erickson is the author of Rooted at the Edge: Ranching Where the Old West and New West Collide (2025), published by the University of Nebraska Press. Erickson grew up on a ranch in Missoula’s North Hills and was a professor of landscape architecture and planning at the University of Michigan for 16 years. She has consulted with land conservation groups across the west from her home in Missoula and has published extensively in design and planning. Erickson’s previous book is MetroGreen: Connecting Open Space in North American Cities.

Owl Pellet Bone Box Sip & Build
2025-10-04 13:00 - 15:00
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025
Time: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Location: MNHC
Cost: $30 MNHC members/$35 non-members
REGISTER HERE
Create a uniquely naturalist spooky display with bones from an owl pellet!
Owl pellets are a treasure trove. Filled with bones, fur, and feathers, they tell us what an owl has been eating. We will discuss the science behind owl pellets and we will use charts and guides to identify the bones we find within. After our forensic practice, we will clean the bones and prepare them for our bone box! Materials will include: owl pellets, small boxes, glue, paint, and your own sense of design. These mini shadow boxes are perfect for Halloween decorations or as art to be enjoyed all year. They definitely adorn some desks here at MNHC!
Enjoy a beer, fizzy water, or cocoa and spend a crafty afternoon with us!
Best for ages 12 and up.
Cost: $30 MNHC members, $35 non-members. Add your MNHC membership to your order when you check out!

FAQs
What’s the refund policy?
The course fee (minus a 25% administrative fee) is refundable if a cancellation is made up to 7 days before the event. No refunds will be issued for cancellations made after this deadline. See our full refund/cancellation policy here.
Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?
Nope! We will have a list of all the attendees.

Volunteering at Fort Missoula Native Plant Garden
2025-10-05 09:00 - 11:00
Dates: Sundays, October 5 & 19, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Location: Fort Missoula Native Plant Garden
The beautiful Native Plant Garden at Fort Missoula could use volunteers to weed, transplant plants out of the walkways and prune shrubs. Volunteering is available most Sunday mornings from 9:00-11:00 a.m. and you can pop in and out any time during that period. We will supply the gloves and tools but if you have your own feel free to bring them. In addition to working, you can learn about the plants, birds and ecology of the garden from Elena Ulev, the Garden Manager.
DIG IN! For more information on programs happening at the Fort Missoula Native Plant Garden, click here!
