Outreach – The Perfect Ozark Retreat

University Forest is not only used by MU faculty and students as an off-campus field station for research classes, it is also home to a growing number of continuing professional education workshops and seminars by governmental, educational and ecologically-related organizations.

These include the Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4-H and the Missouri Botanical Garden.

The Forestry Division of the Missouri Department of Conservation conducts a ten-week training academy for new employees in this unique outdoor setting. And for the past two years the Corps of Engineers, in association with the National Wild Turkey Federation, holds a hunting education course and facilitated hunt for people with physical disabilities.

University Forest has become a favorite field-trip headquarters for classes in natural resources, wetland ecology, geology, biology and related fields who wish to take advantage of a unique Ozarks habitat. UFEC is also an excellent remote getaway site for retreats and other gatherings where solitude is a prerequisite.

To support these meetings, comfortable modern cabins, a classroom and meeting center, a dining hall and recreational facilities blend aesthetically into the surrounding hardwood forest. Twenty-one air-conditioned buildings are part of the complex. Housing and meals are available on site, for a maximum of 60 persons. University Forest is an ADA accessible facility. So, consider the University Forest Education Center for your next outdoor educational event.