Sustainability • Voices

‘Silvoor Stories’ by Amanda Bentley Brymer, curator, Silvoor Biological Sanctuary

Bentley Brymer continues the tradition of Robert A. Hefner’s column “Silvoor Notes” that covered the restoration of the biological sanctuary

Published 4/01/25 • Last updated 2/20/26 15:17:3

silvoor loop trail with some purple wildflowers

Silvoor Loop Trail in spring (photo by Amanda Bentley Brymer)

Sustainability • Voices

‘Silvoor Stories’ by Amanda Bentley Brymer, curator, Silvoor Biological Sanctuary

Bentley Brymer continues the tradition of Robert A. Hefner’s column “Silvoor Notes” that covered the restoration of the biological sanctuary

Published 4/01/25 • Last updated 2/20/26 15:17:3

SIlvoor Biological Sanctuary — a small natural area near Peffer Park and part of the Miami University Natural Areas — was established in 1930 by Zoology professor Robert A. Hefner and his family. Through the height of the Great Depression, the Hefners restored four degraded acres south of Chestnut Street.

Amanda Bentley Brymer, assistant director of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, has been curator of the sanctuary since 2013.

Now she continues the tradition of Hefner’s column “Silvoor Notes” that covered the restoration of the biological sanctuary.

Read Bentley Brymer’s “Silvoor Stories: Appreciating the Natural Beauty Around Us” in the March 29 issue of the Oxford Free Press.