We are involved in a number of volunteer-supported projects. Please continue to watch our website for announcements of newly scheduled events each spring through the fall. For convenience, you can register as a volunteer and receive e-mail notification of planned events by signing up on our
Volunteer Registration Page.
Highlands Wetland Planting Days – including our annual Wetland Workshop On Saturday, May 11, 2013
On April 20, 2013, we will have a wetland planting event at Highlands Park (located at the corner of Spring Rd. and E. Walnut St.). Wear old clothes and shoes you won’t mind getting dirty. If you have them, bring shovels, buckets and work gloves. We will be installing approximately 5,000 wetland plugs during each event, so bring your family and friends!
Our WETLANDS WORKSHOP will be at the same location on Saturday, May 11, 2013: We will have our traditional workshop from 10am to 12 noon, then at 12:30 (after a short lunch break), we will have an additional planting of the remaining plugs described above until 3:30pm. Click here for a flyer.
Contact Jenny
"All Sides with Ann Fisher" - The Brief Wondrous Life of Vernal Pool
On March 20, 2013, Mark Dilley joined David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council and Mick Micacchion of Midwest Biodiversity Institute in a discussion with Ann Fisher about vernal pools and what life can be found there in the springtime. The full program can be found here.
Wetland seeding workday at Highlands Park was a success!
On the first Highlands Park Marsh Makeover seeding workday on October 6, 2012, approximately three acres of wetland area was seeded. A BIG THANKS to our great volunteers, which included neighboring community members, OSU School of Environment & Natural Resources students, and members of FACT (Friends of Alum Creek and Tributary).
Ins and Outs of STEM
On August 15, MAD staff Mark Dilley and Jenny Atkins led a STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Math) workshop with area teachers about how the “Outs” of Elementary STEM gets you thinking outside the box-or classroom. Interactive activities were held outdoors at the Alexander Livingston reclaimed wetlands area on the Summit Road campus. Mark and Jenny also shared strategies for using the outdoors as a teaching tool. Although they were able to enjoy the advantage of the wetlands that day, they also shared ideas about designing lessons that can utilize landscape and ecosystem features that might be found in the teacher’s own school’s backyard. The lessons were focused on the earth and space and life science indicators. Participants left with lessons, hand-outs, hands-on activities and games for use in an outdoor classroom.
Reynoldsburg City Schools Eco-Lab Wetland Site Highlighted in Urban Review Newsletter
Our biggest project of the year, the Eco-Lab wetland creation/restoration at Reynoldsburg’s new Summit Road school site, was the cover story for Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District's November Urban Review newsletter
. Please check it out!.
All of us at MAD Scientist & Associates wish to express our sincere thanks to:
- Martha Gilson, who took and interest in our project and wrote the article;
- the forward-thinking administration and teachers of the Reynoldsburg City School District for supporting the development of this Eco-Lab;
- the staff of Moody-Nolan for including us on the team and supporting our wetland design and construction oversight efforts;
- the staff of the Smoot-Elford construction management team for keeping us informed of schedules and helping to resolve construction issues; and
- all of the hardy volunteers who turned out to help plant the site - this crew went above and beyond, despite challenging conditions for a planting effort in mid-summer.
It's been a pleasure seeing this project come
together. We hope that we'll have continued opportunities to collaborate with the District to improve and manage the site and promote its beneficial uses for STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in Reynoldsburg.
I.G.O.R. Volunteers
Our wonderful
volunteers/t-shirt models are Jerry Holloway and
Kellie Chenault.
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