FNA News Summer 2016
www.fermilabnaturalareas.org [email protected] 630-840-4845
Fermilab Natural Areas (FNA), is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit
tax-exempt corporation formed in 2006. Our mission: To conserve, restore and study
the natural areas within Fermilab while encouraging employees and neighbors to
experience and enjoy Fermilab's natural beauty.
We envision a future:
* Where our natural areas and ecosystems are rich in biodiversity.
* Where conservation and restoration are sustainable activities.
* Where we are a regional leader in natural areas research.
* Where Fermilab's open spaces contribute to a high quality of life for the community.
President’s Message
Sunny Summer Greetings!
On behalf of the FNA Board of Directors, I'd like to thank the generous donors who helped us reach our goal of
$4000 to meet the 3:1 Matching Grant provided by the IL Clean Energy Community Foundation (see page 7 of this
newsletter). This money will be used to help restore nine wooded areas and the Main Ring Savanna at Fermilab.
The Education Center Woods, Lederman Woods, and Big Woods are visited by hundreds of local school groups
every year. During their docent-led field trips, the students get to experience and study these restored areas,
along with the restored prairies, to learn about the natural environment. The guided visits are valuable learning
experiences for the many students who have not been exposed to these ecosystems. The same wooded areas are
also used to help local Webelos Scouts earn their "Into the Woods" badge. This new program is taught by Fermilab docents, offered by the Education Office.
I invite you to check out our website and come visit Fermilab to experience and enjoy our wonderfully engaging
natural areas.
Happy Summer!
Toni Mueller [email protected]
FNA President, & Fermilab Docent
FNA Calendar of Events
Check our website calendar: http://www.fermilabnaturalareas.org/calendar.html
All workdays are free and open to the public. No experience required. Meet in the Lederman Science Education Center parking lot. Please dress for outdoor work & wear sturdy shoes or boots. Rain or hazardous weather cancels. Those under 18 years
of age must be accompanied by an adult or have written permission. Please follow our facebook page or the calendar on our
website to see the latest updates for work days. Here’s an example:
Monday Strike Team - traverse the site hunting invasive species
Wednesday Morning Warriors - collect, process, mix, and spread native seeds
Steward Workdays - assist FNA Stewards in their habitat restoration projects
Seasonal activities may include: invasive species control, native seed collecting, seed processing & mixing, seed mix spreading, and wildlife monitoring. Stewards try to have some environmental education involved with each workday, and provide
refreshments. Receive workday announcements & reminders by sending a request to [email protected].
Sept 10 Pr air ie Seed Har vest - Note the new date! Individuals and groups are welcome. Watch for mailing as the date
nears. Please see our flyer: http://sustainability.fnal.gov/ecology/prairie/pdfs/volunteer-harvest-flier-2016.pdf
Oct 15 Pr air ie Seed Har vest - Note the new date! Individuals and groups are welcome. Watch for mailing as the date
nears. Please see our flyer: http://sustainability.fnal.gov/ecology/prairie/pdfs/volunteer-harvest-flier-2016.pdf
Oct 29 “Incr edible Bats” pr ogr am. 10:00 am at a Fer milab location to be deter mined. Be sur e to make this talk,
featuring live bats, part of your Halloween fun! You may also get to meet Bella and Baxter the skunks.
Please watch your email, facebook or our calendar for last-minute changes or additional events.
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Past and Future Events with FNA
Liz Copeland, FNA
L. Shaddix
FNA has been as a busy as a bee lately with table events and
presentations, and “hands-on” experiences.
We had our annual Arbor Day planting on May 3 with Roads and
Grounds, other Fermilab employees, and FNA volunteers. Among
the trees and shrubs planted were Blue Beech and American Hazelnut. Attendees enjoyed a grilled hot dog lunch afterwards.
We also sponsored both a bird walk with bird monitor Dave Spleha, and a spring flower walk with steward Jacques Hooymans &
butterfly monitor Tom Peterson during Fermilab’s Earth Week
(week of April 18). Both were well attended!!
That same week, FNA had a table set up for the Fermilab Earth
Day festivities. We greeted many new faces, and hopefully a few
new volunteers. On April 30 we tabled a great event at the Warrenville Arbor Day Celebration.
FNA bee monitor Terry Miesle lead two bee walks for FNA stewards and monitors on May 28 and we have a tentative bee walk
scheduled for July 23, more details to follow.
June 15 and 16 saw us providing FNA information at a table in the
Wilson Hall atrium for the Fermilab Users Annual Meeting first-ofits-kind vendor fair.
For the future, please come and see us at the Batavia “Green Fair
on the Fox”, which takes place on Saturday, August 13 from 10 am
to 4 pm at the Batavia Riverwalk, indoor at City Hall, and across the pedestrian bridge to the Farmers’ Market
on River Street. We will be inside! Keep checking our website calendar www.fermilabnaturalareas.org/
calendar and our Facebook page for upcoming events.
Further into the future, mark your calendar for our Fermilab Prairie Harvests. The dates have been moved up
a month for this year: Sept 10 and Oct 15. See our flyer here: http://sustainability.fnal.gov/ecology/prairie/
pdfs/volunteer-harvest-flier-2016.pdf.
www.fermilabnaturalareas.org
Summer 2016
Pg 2 of 7
Introducing our Dr. Robert Betz Intern for 2016
Dr. Robert F. Betz was a pioneer of tallgrass prairie conservation and restoration throughout the Chicago
region and beyond. He led one of the planet’s largest prairie restoration projects at Fermilab beginning in
1975. Today, we honor his legacy by supporting young ecologists with an internship bearing his name.
We are pleased to have this summer’s FNA Betz Intern introduce himself:
My name is Sidath Wanigasinghe and I am a junior at Knox College in Galesburg Illinois. Currently, I am
working towards a major in Environmental Studies and a double minor in Biology and Business. At school, I
always find myself involved with projects concerning Green Oaks, the college’s 704-acre research preserve.
Green Oaks is home to the country’s second prairie restoration planted by Paul Shepard, and two other prairies
that were planted by Pete Schramm.
At the moment, I am enrolled in a trimester program known as the Green Oaks Term. In this program, students and professors live in residential structures within the research preserve and conduct the courses of the
term at Green Oaks. I will be entering the summer internship right after Green Oaks Term, and I look forward
to expanding my knowledge regarding stewardship and ecological management during the Dr. Robert F. Betz
internship.
Sidath Wanigasinghe
FNA Dr. Robert F. Betz intern
2016
Dr. Robert F. Betz
Inside the Fermilab Main Ring
1996
Fermilab photo
www.fermilabnaturalareas.org
Summer 2016 Pg 3 of 7
How to Volunteer With FNA Without Going Outside
or Conservation at FNA: More Than Plants & Wildlife
Kristal Parke, FNA
What prompted me to volunteer for an “inside job” with FNA? Ultimately, it was The University of Chicago, my passion for helping the environment, and curiosity that got me to apply.
It was the Spring 2015 quarter at University of Chicago when I was enrolled in 'The New Cosmology' (taught
by Michael S. Turner) and 'Resolving the Environmental Crisis' (taught by Theodore Steck). Of course, learning about Cosmology, I had learned about the facility of Fermilab and the research it does. Though, it wasn't
until I was prompted by the teachings of Professor Steck that I began searching for environmental volunteer
opportunities; which led me to a posting on Volunteer Match for Fermilab Natural Areas. I recognized 'Fermi'
due to my Cosmology class! The FNA posting had a list of the various opportunities to volunteer for, and one
happened to be for archives, which was a particular skill that I was keen on gaining more expertise in. Granted
you'll have to confirm with Ryan about this, but I believe it was my experience in administrative/office work
that led them to think I was up to the task!
The Task:
Wilson Hall is not a site where you would think Fermilab Natural Areas would station a volunteer that would
lead a project to help the program understand its roots. Behind the library, across from the Cryogenics section,
is where I archive all FNA’s or FNA’s predecessor saved documents dating back to the 1970’s. After explaining to the IT department why a volunteer for FNA would need computer access and a Fermilab email address,
the physical documentation started. Ranging from the original Prairie Committee (exact spelling negotiable!),
which then evolved to the ELM (Ecological Land Management) Committee, through to the start of FNA, three
large file folder boxes hold papers that are the only surviving collection of Fermilab’s natural areas documentation prior to the computer age and even some a bit afterwards. Within these boxes are: meeting minutes,
memos, letters from outside organizations, a post card, a baby birth announcement, annual proposals, sketches
of new developments, transparencies, and handwritten notes.
Now then, if you ever wish to save any type of paper that will be stored for long periods of time - do not use
metal staples! The first process of preserving these papers was to take out all staples, many of which were rusted and beginning to corrode onto the paper. This required taking the individual papers off of the staple, some
packets over 30 pages thick! After physically preserving the pieces, digital scanning and detailed metadata was
then processed. Each and every single page, some double sided, was scanned and entered into a database.
Many interesting narratives can be teased out of this database, such as …
The Swan Saga:
Fermilab once had swans on the property. Starting in the early 1980’s, I started finding documentation about
these new swans and the proposed plan of keeping them on property as permanent residents. The swans were
documented in meeting minutes, memos, and even personal correspondences between board members. I began
to quickly skim the documents to find information on these swans and what happened to them. I started feeling
connected to the history of our organization because I was shown how much the members truly care about all
living creatures, as evidenced by the documentation of these swans and how they were doing. It was like reading an engaging novel! Unfortunately, this novel did not have a happy ending. Eventually, the end of the story
came with an official Swan Autopsy document. The swans did not survive due to various circumstances such
as common bird ailments and speeding cars.
The Final Steps:
Now that the physical archiving process is finished, I am converting the scanned images into searchable PDF
files (Optical Character Recognition). This will assist FNA by enabling text searches for specific names, dates,
and species within these documents to help understand the past data for the area.
This project has taught me that this land is cherished by many organizations and individuals, that countless
hours are put in by an ever evolving roster of volunteers that truly care about preserving the prairieland within
our state, and that even high ranking board members doodle on their notes in meetings.
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Summer 2016 Pg 4 of 7
Marlene - a Volunteer for all Seasons
Liz Copeland, FNA
We know our FNA volunteers are dedicated and hardworking and, well, almost magical in their restoration efforts. In
this issue we are featuring one such volunteer who seems to take on as many assignments as Harry Potter has in his
Book of Spells. And like Harry Potter, Fermilab is her Hogwarts.
One such long time volunteer who has worn myriads of sorting/duty hats is
Marlene Rosecrans. She started in June 2004 by suggesting to Martin Valenzuela
of Roads & Grounds, a visual way that students, who may come to the seed barn,
could understand the size, shapes, colors, and root depths of native plants. Her
idea was to paint prairie flowers on the wall and have their root systems reach
across the floor. She suggested coating the entire mural with sealant so that students could touch it, and measure themselves against the plants and roots. Guess
who did the painting?
After retiring, Marlene began work with FNA on Mondays and some Wednesdays, and at events like the annual prairie seed harvest and Arbor Day tree planting. Her frequent presence led to becoming an FNA Board member. When then
Board president Rod Walton mentioned that frog monitoring hadn’t been done on the Fermilab site in a few years, Marlene hopped up. Marlene shared her frog monitoring experiences in a Q&A format that follows:
Q: Please detail the monitor ing pr ocess, in other wor ds, what exactly do you do
when you monitor?
A: For a video explaining what we do, see: For est Pr eser ve Distr ict of DuPage
County's Volunteer Amphibian Monitoring Program https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=POVQxH5UZYw&feature=youtu.be.
We (Evalyn Campbell, Bob Mathieu, & I) [photo left] go to designated GPS locations
and gather data for each location from March through June every two weeks. We gather
the following data, which is reported: Identify the calling frogs and the quantity by careful listening. Look for breeding evidence. Look for frogs that may be present and not
heard. Date & time, air & water temperature. Cloud cover percentage, wind speed, precipitation (within 48 hrs of observation), freezing (within 48 hrs of observation). For
more info: http://frogsurvey.org/about.html.
Q: What challenges do you face in your monitor ing?
A: Navigating at night in ar eas without paths or clear ed vegetation is ver y difficult.
All of us on our team have fallen over logs, into sinkholes, into water - brrr cold!!! We
take clippers out with us to cut away branches of trees and shrubs as they fill out during
the season. Mosquitos and ticks are problems as well.
Q: What inter esting species have you discover ed while monitor ing?
A: Spr ing peeper s. It is exciting that they ar e incr easing in number s and
migrating to other locations.
Q: What sites do you monitor and why ar e these the pr efer r ed sites?
A: The sites ar e deter mined by Fer milab with the Chicagoland fr og sur vey project. Sites are not made public to guard against poaching of amphibians. Data has been gathered over many years and used to understand the
movement and/or return of species as well as monitor water and habitat
quality.
Q: What impact do you hope to accomplish with your monitor ing?
A: We hope the little bit we do adds to the big pictur e of land/water r estoration.
Q: Descr ibe an unusual exper ience you had while in the field?
A: Since we ar e out at night, we have obser ved Gr eat Hor ned owls sever al times. One time a pair buzzed our
heads! Another time, we helped rescue a jogger who was having a seizure.
Q: What specific tools do you use while monitor ing?
A: Water ther mometer on an extension pole, air ther mometer , iPhone for r ecor ding fr og calls and to r eview pr erecorded calls, GPS, waders, clothing treated for ticks, & mosquito nets. Data sheets, headlamp, clippers, flagging tape.
Continued on page 6
www.fermilabnaturalareas.org
Summer 2016 Pg 5 of 7
Marlene - a Volunteer for all Seasons
… continued from page 5
Marlene uses her magic wand in the plant areas as well! In this role she takes on rare plant monitoring for Plants of
Concern. Again, she provided us with detailed Q&A about her responsibilities.
Q: How did you get inter ested in r ar e plant monitor ing?
A: I was asked if I was inter ested (by Ryan Campbell and Cindy Hedges) and said “Yes”. Thus I went for training
sponsored by Chicago Botanic Gardens.
Q: What challenges do you face in your monitor ing?
A: Navigating in ar eas without paths or clear ed vegetation is ver y difficult. We (Evalyn Campbell and I) r un into
wildlife like skunks, snakes, deer. We also need to skirt ponds and work our way through poison ivy and blackberry
thickets. Finding our plant is always a challenge. It is a matter of timing - you’ve got to find it when it is blossoming or
you won’t see it at all.
Q: Please detail the monitor ing pr ocess… in other wor ds, what exactly do you do when you monitor ?
A: We walk our designated ar ea inch by inch; we look for our r ar e plant. As we go, we count each one: adult and
juvenile. We record: date, site information, GPS info and population dimensions, soil condition. Plant count: growth
form, reproductive state, list native plant species in the area, list invasive plant species in the area, list other threats to the
population, record land management done in area. Take photos of the species. All the data is recorded online and on paper and sent to the Land Owner (Fermilab) and Chicago Botanic Gardens.
Q: What inter esting species have you discover ed while monitor ing?
A: Once in a while we will discover a less common native plant like gr een dr agon. It is fun to find those jewels!
Q: What sites do you monitor and why ar e these the pr efer r ed sites?
A: Since these ar e r ar e and endanger ed plants, the sites ar e kept secr et. In fact, we sign a confidentiality agr eement with the Chicago Botanic Garden and agree not to disclose the locations.
Q: What impact do you hope to accomplish with your monitor ing?
A: Pr otect these plant populations. If a thr eat is noticed, we do notify Fer milab.
Q: Descr ibe an unusual exper ience you had while in the field.
A: Once, Evalyn and I stumbled into a family of skunks living in a r ock pile. We left them alone and they left us
alone. Thank goodness!!!
Q: What specific tools do you use while monitor ing?
A: GPS, data sheets, iPhone to take photos, a sawed off br oom handle to move poison ivy out of our way.
Q: What happens with data you collect?
A: As explained on the Plants of Concer n website http://www.plantsofconcer n.or g/: “The data is assessed and
then shared with approved partners, including landowners, state agencies, and researchers. (Because rare plant location
data is highly sensitive, POC and its partners must approve all data sharing). After further analysis, the results are communicated to our partners and the public. In collaboration with researchers, we continue to delve more deeply into the
complex dynamics of rare plant populations. Since 2000, more than 280 species have been monitored by POC citizen
scientists, partners, and staff.”
Q: How will what you do impact Fer milab Natur al ar eas?
A: Again, per Plants of Concer n: “Long-term monitoring data for plant populations provides critically needed baseline
information to answer questions about why populations are rare and what drives population changes over time.”
If this isn’t enough, Marlene is also a wizard of a workday volunteer. She
states that in the cold weather, the life of a volunteer is exhausting, but satisfying, manual labor: sawing and lopping, hauling and stacking invasive buckthorn, honeysuckle, and autumn olive, and spraying herbicide. In the warmer
weather when the seeds are mature “we are out in the hot sun filling buckets
with seed.” When asked what keeps her coming back she stated she is committed to help and heal our environment. Besides, she has met many interesting
people among the volunteers that she enjoys spending time with. Marlene reminds us that volunteering with FNA is a learning experience as well.
Knowledge, interesting experiences, camaraderie, a sense of doing one’s part
to make positive impact in our Fermilab environment ... all this and more.
Come join us some volunteer day, and you just might meet Marlene!
www.fermilabnaturalareas.org
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www.fermilabnaturalareas.org
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