Recent Happenings
Bottle Gentians Show Off for Monday Morning Hikers
Each
Monday in October, hikers free during the day had the option of a guided
walk with one of Merry Lea’s naturalists. Here are glimpses from the
first three hikes:
“I am surprised Bottle Gentians grow here in Mary’s Meadow; this was a cornfield not thatlong ago,” Bill Minter, Merry Lea’s land manager, told his group of explorers on October 12. Bottle Gentians are a temperamental plant that is difficult to grow and not likely to make a showing in your garden even if you plantthem there. This is a flower with petals that never open:
they
remain furled in an elongated football shape. Pollination depends
on a particular varietyof bumble bee capable of pulling apart
the petals and sliding inside.
Lisa Zinn who led the hike the previous week, showed hikers what a pine cone looks like after a squirrel has eaten all the seeds. Little is left except a bare cylinder. The group also learned that unlike most birds, goldfinches do not mate until August. “They are very specific in their dependence on thistle seed, both to make their nests and feed their young,” Zinn explained.
Hikers accompanying Carol Good-Elliot savored the scent of black walnuts and found bark with a wacky shade of lime green lichen encrusting the surface. A lichen is a species of fungi in partnership with a species of algae, Good-Elliot explained.
New School Programs Highlight Prairies, Autumn Changes
Six school groups have “broken in” Merry Lea’s new Autumn Adventures program so far. Teachers are pleased with the program’s structure, which includes morning learning stations and an afternoon hike. Students especially enjoy the chance to meet a Northern Water Snake and several amphibians from terrariums in the Learning Center. Click here to learn more.
Autumn Hope Conference Encounters God's Wild Side
This year’s fall conference, At Home with God’s Wild Side: Finding Our Place in Nature included two sets of students from very different backgrounds as well as people from other walks of life.
Seventeen of the conference attenders were members of a 3-credit hour course
at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. The course, entitled Ecology, Theology,
Ethics and Spirituality, is co-taught by ethicist Ted Koontz and Luke Gascho
of Merry Lea. The conference was also one of several faith-based components
that Merry Lea’s graduate students in environmental education experie
nce.
The cross-fertilization produced questions about the goodness of a natural
system that includes violence; delight in a Christian community that embraced
the surrounding ecosystems and many fine photographs shot during retreat hours.
Input from Dave Miller, Merry Lea’s former program director, expanded upon these lines from the poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries."
At right, some participants experienced the natural world through an act of service: harvesting seeds for new prairies.
Botany Students Visit Merry Lea's Mossiest Corner
Goshen
College students taking Dale Hess’ botany class this fall were
privileged to visit a little known corner of Merry Lea, west of Luckey’s
Landing. This damp area offers terrain entirely different from Merry Lea’s
more familiar prairies and marshes. Ferns, mosses and liverworts dominate
a wooded scene that feels prehistoric and offers the perfect outdoor laboratory
for studying non-vascular plants. The class collected several species of mosses
for a classroom terrarium.
Other botany labs featured Merry Lea’s trees, wildflowers and aquatic plants. Students had firsthand encounters with Joe Pye Weed, Sandbar Willow and Slippery Elm.
Community Picnic Features Native American Heritage
Dani Tippman, a member of the Miami people, shared her Native American heritage
with the 60 people who attended Merry Lea 's community picnic August 15.
Tippman. who is a tribal plant specialist, told how her people used species growing at Merry Lea. Children learned Native American games and painted with natural dyes. Later, attenders had the option of climbing a nearby sandy ridge to the location whereremnants of native bake ovens were found years ago.
Diverse Group of Graduate Students Begin at Merry Lea
Above,
the eight graduate students wind up their first visit to Merry Lea's Farmstead.
They are: (back row, l to r) Maddie King, Jennifer Amstutz, Robert Puster,
Kathy Shantz, Laell Schulte; (front row, l to r) Hannah Miller, LaToyia Gilbert,
Bethany Testa-Avilla. Not pictured: Carol Good-Elliott.
Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College welcomed its second
cohort of master's students in environmental education July 6. Nine
students from three countries began their 11-month program with a guided tour
of the 1,189-acre property where most of them will live as well as study.
If someone charted the varied paths that brought Merry Lea’s 2009-2010
cohort together in Wolf Lake, IN, it would require a world map and many
colors of markers.
Hannah Miller, who spent the last eight years studying Chinese and teaching in
Shanghai, China, has travelled the greatest distance to study at Merry Lea--in
more ways than one. Miller's former city is home to 20 million people. Miller
says she is still adjusting to a setting with swamps instead of street lights
and frog calls instead of traffic. A "city kid" all her life, Miller
hopes to do environmental education with youth in urban settings. “It’s
hard to see the effect you are having on the environment when you live in a city,” she
observed.
Robert Puster is a personal chef by trade, with roots in the deep South. He plans
to focus his graduate research around food so that he will be able to educate
his industry regarding its impact on the environment. "Chefs are not taught
green aspects of food preparation," Puster explained. "I was told to
thaw a leg of lamb by running water over it for four hours."
The Upper Midwest is home to Laell Schulte, who has a background in wildlife
management. Schulte says she grew weary of tracking woodpeckers and other research
projects. Her vocation was reborn when she stumbled into a job as a park ranger
and discovered how satisfying it was to share her interests in nature with others.
Now, she is at Merry Lea, hoping to strengthen her skills as an educator.
Jennifer Amstutz, Geneva, IN, is a 6th grade teacher taking a year-long sabbatical
from her school in Ossian, IN. Jennifer watched a large nature preserve behind
her school languish due to loss of funding. She came to Merry Lea partly to learn
how to make the most of this untapped resource. She envisions units where children
learn math and science while interacting with the natural world.
Bethany Testa-Avilla has an undergraduate degree in visual and public art with
a concentration in museum studies. As a California native, Testa-Avilla is new
to Midwest ecosystems and looks forward to experiencing thunderstorms and snow,
as well as preparing curriculum for a camp setting.
Several students say that their desire to integrate their Christian faith with
their love for the earth brought them to Merry Lea. Kathy Shantz of Waterloo,
ON, and Maddie King, Lynchburg, VA, both look forward to the faith-based components
of the program.
LaToyia Gilbert of Gary, IN, works with youth in an inner-city ministry she and
her husband founded. Gilbert discovered that taking kids to camp was one of her
favorite things to do. "I saw the way the kids came back changed when they
visited the outdoors," she said. “God has put me in this position
to get kids thinking about the environment.”
Carol Good-Elliott, Goshen, IN, already on staff at Merry Lea, is also pursuing a master's degree through the program.
Merry Lea’s faculty designed the master’s program to take maximum advantage of the nature center’s ecologically diverse land base, strong K-12 program and diverse faculty. Students begin their year with a natural history course taught primarily outdoors and earn practicum credit by teaching school groups that come to Merry Lea. They also study leadership, land management, pedagogy, research methods and environmental issues.
Teachers Gather for Conservation Institute
Can community service enliven a high school classroom and aid local parks and conservation organizations at the same time? Five local high school teachers came to Merry Lea June 22 – 26 to find out. They attended the Community Education and Conservation Institute, co-sponsored by Merry Lea and the Northwest Center for Sustainable Resources (NCSR).
This course is part of an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation. Its long-term goal is to enable school classes to partner with public or non-profit conservation organizations to work on appropriate projects in wetlands, parks, rivers or other green spaces. Jon Yoder, an NCSR instructor from Salem, Oregon, directed the week’s activities, with input from Merry Lea’s staff.
roup visited vernal pools and prairies aterry Lea and learned about possible research projects in these settings. They also visited other sites such as Oxbow Park and a teaching wetland planted by students at Bethany Christian High School, Goshen, IN.
Mary Borger, who teaches honors biology at Goshen High School, Goshen, IN, ispursuing a master’s degree in the teaching of science. She hopes to design a curriculum for her classroom centered on Abshire Park, a Goshen Community Parks property near her school. “I could get really excited about bird banding," she says.
Theresa Holmes, who serves as the science coach for Mary Beck Elementary School in Elkhart, IN, envisions a Hoosier Riverwatch program at her school.
Summer Agroecology 2009 Begins with New Greenhouse
Left, Agroecologist Dale Hess steadies a ladder for Property Supervisor Kerry Goodrich during greenhouse construction.
The three students who aim to complete Merry Lea's nine-week Agroecology Summer Intensive this year found a new tool in their territory when they arrived June 1: a brand new greenhouse. The greenhouse is a gift from two families with agricultural roots: Bob and Nelda Thelin of La Junta, CO, and David and Lou Ann Kenagy, Archbold, OH. In both cases, funds came from the sale of farmland.
Dale Hess, Merry Lea's agroecologist looks forward to using the greenhouse to extend the growing season and produce early or late crops of tomatoes, lettuce, chard or kale. It will also provide a handy place to keep specimens for the botany course he teaches for Goshen College, which runs until December. For students, working with a greenhouse enables them to learn some special skills: pest management can be tricky in the protected environment of a greenhouse.
This year's agroecology students are Sarah Siebach of Provo UT, a recent graduate of Brigham Young University; Andrea Bowman of Archbold, OH, a student at Eastern Mennonite University; and Darren Swartzendruber, a student at Goshen College.
Merry Lea Graduates First Masters Students
Friday, June 5 marked a milestone for both Merry Lea and the first cohort of students to complete its master’s in environmental education. Draped in their light blue hoods, Todd Weston, Columbia, MO, Nayla Jiménez, San Ramón de Tres Ríos, Costa Rica, and Mallory Kuhn, Spencerville, Ohio, had much to be proud of: the three polished off 30 credit hours in eleven months and graduated with skills in everything from flower identification to research methods to making maple syrup.
Merry Lea faculty and students marked the occasion with a ceremony, photographs and a special luncheon prepared by Director of the Graduate Program Dave Ostergren. The three also presented research findings from their year-long research projects:
Scouting’s Effect on Youth Environmental Attitudes
Todd Weston adapted a survey known as the New Environmental Paradigm and distributed
it to Noble and Elkhart County schools to see if he could discern differences
between the ways scouts and non-scouts answered the questions. Students
between 6th and 12th grade were asked to agree or disagree with statements
such as, “Humankind was created to rule over the rest of nature,”
The sample included 370 youth, 55 of whom were scouts.
According to Todd’s results, scouting did not seem to affect the youths’ environmental attitudes. However, Todd acknowledges that his survey had a relatively small number of scouts in it, most of whom were no longer in scouting when they filled out the survey.
Todd, an Eagle Scout who says he had “a fairytale scout life” and saw his scout camp as his second home, was disappointed to learn that 82% of scouts drop out by the 6th grade. He hopes to work at changing that statistic in the future. Along with his research, Todd revised the curriculum for the environmental science boy scout badge.
The Consumer’s Perceived Obstacles and Benefits of Shopping at the Goshen Farmer’s Market
Mallory Kuhn created a 28-question survey about attitudes toward buying and
eating local food. She distributed the survey to shoppers at the Goshen Farmers’ Market
and also conducted interviews. She noted that her sample was 93% white and
70% female; the largest age group represented was 55-64.
One of Mallory’s most interesting findings was the high value people
placed on the social atmosphere at the Market. Over 85% of respondents identified
this as the thing they liked best about the market, and 60% strongly agreed
that talking with growers was important to them.
Respondents listed several disadvantages to shopping at the Farmers’ Market:
limited operating hours, the inability to use debit cards and the fact that
a Farmers’ Market is not full service.
In support of the Farmers’ Market, Mallory created a table display to
introduce the market to outsiders. She also recommends that the market expand
it hours and work to attract a broader demographic.
Sustainability on the Campuses of Members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
In 2007, 18 million students enrolled in colleges or universities, and about 317 billion dollars passed through these institutions. Needless to say, colleges and universities have significant opportunities to stimulate positive change toward a sustainable future that does not rob future generations of the ability to meet their needs.
Nayla Jimenez adapted a 50-question survey from the National Wildlife Foundation and sent it to leaders of the 110 colleges that are members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.
Did the schools have any LEED-rated buildings? Did they hire personnel specifically
to oversee sustainable decision-making or sponsor a research center devoted
to this task? Did they purchase renewable energy or work at greening campus
fleets? These are the kinds of questions Nayla asked. She also asked whether
or not the school had signed on to either the President’s Climate Commitment
or the Evangelical Climate Initiative. Why or why not?
Those who responded included 14 college presidents, 5 deans and 7 facilities
managers. The majority had not signed either commitment. The reason most often
given was that the administrator was unaware of these initiatives.
In response to her research, Nayla created a curriculum designed to help higher
education personnel understand the implications of committing to environmental
stewardship and the components required for a more sustainable future. She
also designed a curriculum to introduce first-year students to sustainable
decision-making.
Tight Race Enlivens Annual Birding Challenge
Merry Lea’s annual Birding Challenge ended June 1 with more participants
and more birds than ever. This year’s 57 participants spotted a collective
total of 247 species. Eleven were new birds not seen in previous competitions.
They include the Long-billed Dowitcher, the Laughing Gull, Smith’s Longspur
and the Snowy Owl.
After an intense competition, first place in the Super-Crazy Birder category
went to the Flying Dutchmen who spotted 231 species in three months. They
were Gary, Jesse, and Jonathon Chupp, Howard Kauffman, Leland, Sharon,
Dorcas, Eunice, and Thaddaeus Shaum. The Migrant Workers, (John and Elain
Harley, Dan Stoltzfus and Melissa Kinsey, all of Goshen IN) ran a close second
with 226 species. The Splendid Starlings, consisting of Dale Hess, Jennifer
Schrock and Carol and Benjamin Good-Elliott, topped the Experienced Birder
category with 81 species. The team spirit award went to the Roadrunners for
the excellent diary they kept.
At the concluding pizza party and award ceremony in early June, each team
shared a favorite birding moment from the spring. Leland Shaum from the Flying
Dutchmen described calling in Virginia Rails. A rail came in so close it was
running around his children’s feet!
Several of the team members are excellent bird photographers, so the night ended with a slide show of many of the birds seen this spring.
Wetlands Workshop Highlights Merry Lea's Ephemeral Ponds
Merry Lea’s vernal pools received special attention during a three-day
intensive workshop on the Natural History of Wooded Wetlands, May 29 – 31.
According to guest instructors Alice Thompson and Mary Linton, the quality
of Merry Lea’s vernal pools is one of the property’s greatest
strengths.
“Temporary ponds are an endangered ecosystem,” observed wetland instructor Mary Linton. Because they are small, isolated from lakes or rivers and dry part of the year, these are the wetlands most likely to be drained for human purposes. Draining of vernal ponds causes flooding downstream because these depressions sop up spring rain and snowmelt and release water slowly. Vernal pools also offer shelter to a unique group of inhabitants. Because some predators cannot complete their life cycles before the pool dries out in the summer, other species, such as fairy shrimp, thrive.
The in-depth wetland event drew 23 participants from as far away as Indianapolis, IN. Some, like Willard and Kathy Fenton-Miller, Marsalis, MI, were landowners wanting to learn more about their own properties. Annie Skinner and Mary Jo Fitzenrider, both of Freemont, IN were part of a water quality committee charged with creating ordinances to protect Clear Lake in the northeast corner of Indiana. They hope to share their learnings with the surrounding community. Spencer Lewis, Hudson, IN, owns a 50-acre trailer park located on a lake and needs to make decisions about managing the shoreline. Other participants were master naturalists or professionals sharpening their skills as wetland delineators or agricultural consultants.
Dr. Linton is a wetland ecologist with emphasis on the biology of top wetland predators. Her teaching career includes 13 years at Goshen College where she served as the Lindsay Fellow at Merry Lea from 1989 – 2002. Alice Thompson is the CEO of Thompson and Associates, a wetland consulting firm in Wisconsin and the co-author of the award-winning book, Wetland Restoration Handbook for Wisconsin Landowners.
The Linton-Thompson duo hopes to return to Merry Lea again, possibly with a Wetland restoration workshop. If interested, email jenniferhs@goshen.edu.
Over 100 Undetered by Rainy NatureFest
“You mean I could have a job like that someday?” exclaimed one excited child after watching Todd Weston, one of Merry Lea’s graduate students in environmental education lead a workshop on reptiles at NatureFest May 16.
The reptile workshop was just one of the opportunities that went forward rain or shine at this year’s soggy NatureFest. Over 100 attenders seemed undeterred and presenters adapted. Steve Shantz’s star watch Friday night quickly became an indoor account on how to grind lenses and make a homemade telescope. The Naturals, a world beat band pictured above left, played in the barn hayloft instead of the pavilion and were so taken with the space they want to come back.
At right, volunteer Connie Davis prepares to lead a session of Exploring Nature. Volunteers also helped make the event a success by washing mountains of dishes. Special thanks go to Kathryn Aschiman and Elizabeth Jacobs.
Wildflower Fans Tour Noble County
Caption: Jeanette Salisbury, Shirley Friesen and Dottie Kauffmann are in need
of a silly moment after their long walk.
Merry Lea Volunteers John and Joanne Smith, Goshen, IN, led a day-long tour of Noble County's wildflower hotspots April 25. The group began in Merry Lea's Thompson woods where they found a huge patch of bloodroot in an unlikely spot. Then they visited Bender's Woods and Spurgeon Woods, both ACRES properties. The hike passed through acres of Dutchman's Breeches. During lunch at Chain O'Lakes State Park, John Smith discovered an unusual variety of white trout lily.
"We hiked through an old growth area at Spurgeon Woods and an area just reverting to forest," commented Jennifer Schrock, Merry Lea's coordinator of public programs. "I was struck by how much richer the forest floor was in the area that had not been cleared. "
Thanks to the Smiths exemplary record-keeping, everyone went home knowing they'd seen over 30 kinds of wildflowers.
2009 Birding Expedition Visits Indiana Dunes
Eight people participated in the 2009 Birding Expedition to the Indiana Dunes. The weather was wonderful and the group spotted 115 species over the three day period. A few highlights were the Caspian Terns, Black-necked Stilts, Black-crowned Night Herons, Virginia Rails, and many species of warblers. The wildflowers were also wonderful and it was hard to know whether to look up at the birds or at the flowers on the ground. Click this link for more photos from the Expedition.
Lessons for All Ages: How Eating a Prairie Can Save It
Left, Sensegig, in red, discusses the function of the deer exclosure with the Friends of Merry Lea.
The relationship between grazing animals and a healthy prairie is a popular topic at Merry Lea thanks to Ryan Sensenig, director of Goshen College’s Enviromental Studies Program and Merry Lea’s Lindsey Fellow. Sensenig has initiated a long-term research project based at Merry Lea to investigate the effects of deer and other grazers on tallgrass prairie species.
Why does Sensenig care what deer eat?
Ten to twelve thousand years ago, a Serengeti-like multitude of Pleistocene
grazers lived in North American grasslands. Each species had a unique forage
preference, which likely helped maintain a diversity of plants in the prairie.
The Tallgrass Prairie Grazing Project seeks to blend the restoration of
tallgrass prairies with a local agricultural economy. Can we restore our
prairies and use them too? Sensenig’s hypothesis
is that prairies can benefit from grazing.
Left, Maple Scholars Jeremy Good and Adie Gerig measure plant growth.
In early April, Sensenig escorted the
Friends of Merry Lea to his research site during their annual hike and dinner.
The group visited the prairies north of Luckey’s Landing and saw Sensenig’s
deer exclosure: a fenced area that enables him to compare areas browsed
by deer with areas they cannot access.
During summer 2009, two Maple Scholars from Goshen College will assisted with
the Tallgrass Prairie Grazing Project. The Maple Scholar program gives Goshen
students the opportunity to participate in independent research. This year’s
scholars are Adie Gerig, a senior environmental science major from Mishawaka,
IN, and Jeremy Good, a senior environmental science major from Reading, PA. §
Greener congregations a theme at Merry Lea
Luke Gascho, Merry Lea’s executive director, offered several workshops aimed at enabling Christian congregations to live more lightly on the earth this year. A public program entitled “Greener Congregations” and aimed at local pastors took place at Merry Lea in late March, and Gascho offered the workshop again in May during NatureFest. Gascho is presenting the workshop again at the Mennonite Church USA’s biennial convention in early July.
The workshop looks at topics such as forming a creation care group at your church or conducting an energy audit. It is based on a curriculum Gascho wrote entitled, Creation Care: Keepers of the Earth. The curriculum is published by Mennonite Mutual Aid and available on their web site.