Oregon sits atop the Cascadia Subduction Zone and all University of Oregon campuses could be impacted by a major earthquake on this 620-mile fault. The Great Oregon ShakeOut, a statewide earthquake drill, takes place Oct. 16 and is an opportunity to practice how to protect yourself during an earthquake and prepare for what to do after.

University of Oregon student Kali Bissanti discovered this in summer 2023, as an outreach educator with the university’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Bissanti was in Union, a small town in northeast Oregon, when this predicament emerged, just 40 minutes before Bissanti was scheduled to give a talk at the Union Carnegie Public Library.

A traveling exhibit created by the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History (MNCH), it will be viewable in the library until Sept. 22. The exhibit is a part of the MNCH’s Museum Adventures program, which brings transportable exhibits to rural communities across Oregon.

Field school is a rite of passage for any prospective archaeologist. Participants receive mentorship from archaeological professionals and learn a variety of skills.

Archaeology students from the University of Oregon and 16 members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band are searching for the remains of a two-story adobe once owned by Manuel Larios, a 19th-century Californio, one of the first Spanish settlers in California.

On July 23 staff and faculty met up at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History for an afternoon of connection and education. People mingled and enjoyed light refreshments while exploring the dynamic exhibits at the museum.

Featuring 13 high-quality images of the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy, the exhibit showcases images taken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s James Webb Space Telescope. "This is truly just like Hubble (telescope) 25 years ago," said UO professor of astronomy Scott Fisher, who curated the exhibit. "We are at the beginning of a brand new kind of era of astronomy."

“This exhibit is unique because I think that we… everybody looks up at the night sky and sees the stars are laid before us,” said Lexie Briggs. “But I think that having these images and being able to get close to them and feel part of a larger sort of cosmos is really, really cool.”

If you are visiting the University of Oregon campus to tour the school, visit a student, cheer on sports, attend a lecture or make a presentation, plan to see as much as possible and enjoy your time!

The exhibit highlights innovations associated with the history of many different Tribal groups to portray the rich diversity of Native peoples living here in Oregon. It is traveling to rural libraries throughout the state of Oregon as part of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History’s bilingual Museum Adventures program.