The Ball State University Field Station and Environmental Education Center will host a Wetland Restoration Workshop on October 26-27, 2024 at the Cooper Farm property in Muncie, IN. This event will feature hands-on training and allow participants to gain direct experience in wetland restoration.
The workshop, which occurs at Cooper Farm every two years, will focus on using practical, economical techniques to construct and restore wetland habitats that have been harmed by human development. Participants will learn where to build wetlands, how to test the soil, choose the right building techniques, work with equipment operators and establish native plants in their new ecosystem.
Wetlands are ecologically valuable. They provide habitats to many species, store rainwater, filter water, and refill underground aquifers. Their water storage feature is especially useful during heavy rains and flooding, as it prevents too much water from damaging property and land downstream. They also retain water in the land during droughts.
Tom Biebighauser, Wetland Restorer
Tom Biebighauser, an experienced wetland restorer, will lead the workshop. Tom has designed over 10,000 wetlands and constructed 3,000 of them since 2003. He has won numerous awards for his work, and advocates a low-cost, low-maintenance approach that ensures his wetlands can last ages. This will be Tom’s fourth workshop at Ball State.
“I’m excited to return to Ball State University to work with students to design and restore another wetland!” Tom said. “I’m convinced that the best thing we can do to help wildlife is to restore a wetland. People who attend this workshop will learn how to build wetlands that will last for thousands of years!”
Students Gain Wetland Restoration Experience
Rianna Schwartz, ’23, enrolled in the wetland workshop several years ago. She studied advertising from 2017 to 2020 before getting her Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the College of Architecture and Planning. She now works as a Preserve Project Designer for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County in Illinois.
As she studied advertising as an undergraduate, Rianna did not get to experience some of the nature experience and classes CSH offers in several of its majors and courses. But the workshop gave her an excellent opportunity to learn about an area relevant to her career and master’s degree.
“I love learning in the field and this workshop offered a different type of learning experience in something I would actually be interested in doing for work,” Rianna said.
Revisiting Ball State for the Workshop
Nate Pugh graduated from Ball State in 2017 with a degree in biology and a concentration in wildlife biology and conservation. During his time at Ball State, Nate worked in the Field Station with Land Manager John Taylor. He helped John manage the various properties around Muncie that make up the Ball State Field Station.
He began working at Heartland Restoration Services, Inc. in Fort Wayne in 2018 as Director of Restoration Services. Heartland installs prairies, manages invasive species, and, of course, constructs wetlands.
Nate came back to his alma mater during the wetland workshop to fulfill some continuing education requirements and revisit the lands he once managed as a student. This helped him appreciate the nuance behind designing new ecosystems, as the restoration approach the workshop employed differed slightly from the one Heartland used.
“Wetlands in and of themselves are key parts of ecosystems, even in areas that aren’t historically wet,” Nate said. “Areas that capture water and redirect it or allow it to filtrate in a slower manner are important to keep other properties from [flooding]… And it creates habitat for specific species. There are a lot of aquatic species that must have the wetland to survive.”
Threats to Wetlands
Wetlands were once a prominent part of Indiana’s environment. Kankakee Marsh in northwest Indiana was one of the largest wetlands in the world before European immigrants drained the land to make way for fields. Today, wetlands are increasingly threatened by encroaching development and the Indiana Statehouse recently stripped even more wetlands of their protection.
These threats make workshops like this all the more important to encourage activists and developers to take action and keep our wetlands safe and build new ones. Teaching people how to restore more wetlands makes this knowledge more accessible and available to those who want to help, too.
“The landscape surrounding Ball State University is dominated by drained wetlands,” Tom said. “The majority of the wetlands drained in the past two hundred years has been done by hardworking and intelligent people who didn’t have a high school education. So why then do so many think you need to be an engineer or have a PhD to build a wetland?”
The wetland restoration workshop is open to the public and costs $165 for students and $375 for professionals. Register online before Wednesday, October 16, 2024.