Powdermill Nature Reserve, the biological research station of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, has been dedicated to its mission of research, education, and conservation for over 50 years. It is a place for scientists, for students, and for families who are interested in the natural world. The Powdermill Avian Research Center is home to the one of the longest continually running bird banding stations in the United States. A wide variety of public education programs serve children and adults. Researchers from around the world conduct diverse long- and short-term scientific studies in herpetology, botany, invertebrate zoology, and ornithology.

What's new at Powdermill?

• Hunting applications are now available online. You may also download the informational letter.
• Two videos highlighting research and conservation at Powdermill are available on the Greenlife Pennsylvania Web site. Click here to learn about our avian research, or click here to meet the Marsh Machine, which sustainably manages wastewater from the headquarters.
• Powdermill offers rental spaces for events of all sizes—take a look at the Facility Rentals page for details.
• Visit our Online Tours to learn about the sustainability techniques used in the construction of the new headquarters.

About Powdermill

Powdermill was established in 1956 to serve as a field station of Carnegie Museum of Natural History for long-term studies of natural populations—their life histories, behaviors, and ecological relationships.

Powdermill Nature Reserve is both a place and a philosophy. It stands as a symbol of the human vision—both scientist and philanthropist alike. The museum's need for a natural area which could be used as a laboratory and preserved for the study of natural processes was understood and outlined in 1948 by Dr. M. Graham Netting, then Assistant Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Since he believed the Ligonier Valley to be the finest natural area in western Pennsylvania, he personally instituted a search for a suitable site for his vision.

In 1956, General and Mrs. Richard K. Mellon and Dr. and Mrs. Alan M. Scaife presented to Carnegie Institute, for the use of the Natural History Museum, eleven tracts of land totaling 1,160 acres, beginning about three miles south of Rector. The area was named "Powdermill Nature Reserve, a Research Station of Carnegie Museum." Over the next several years, additional acreage was added to the Reserve through other generous gifts, and today, Powdermill Nature Reserve offers over 2,200 acres of woodlands, streams, open fields, ponds, and thickets.

The reserve is used by scientists to monitor and study changes in the local ecology and wildlife populations. It has served as a refuge for many plants and animals now becoming increasingly rare in our region as their habitats are destroyed. Powdermill Run, the mountain spring stream that traverses the mixed deciduous forest property, was found to be one of the very few unpolluted streams available for ongoing studies of aquatic life.

Today, as the Reserve celebrates its fifty-year anniversary, it is far more beautiful than when it was established, due to the natural growth of protected vegetation and the efforts of many supporters.