Notice: This is an outdoor event and attendees are expected to dress for weather. Long pants and hiking boots are recommended!

Tom Rosburg to give a walking tour of the Kettlehole at Freda Haffner Kettlehole State Preserve as well as discuss the ecology of native plant communities. The State Preserve overlooks the Little Sioux River Valley and is home to a diversity of high-quality habitats which support more than 360 vascular plants, 34 bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) and numerous lichens. The natural communities here include the unique kettle wetland, dry gravel prairie to mesic prairie on the ridgetops and slopes, and wet mesic prairie and sedge meadow in the floodplain.

Dr. Thomas Rosburg has been a faculty member in the Department of Biology at Drake University since 1996. He has a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, a Masters in Plant Ecology, and a Bachelor of Science in Fish and Wildlife Biology, all from Iowa State University. Early in his career, Tom worked as a wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming, the Fish and Wildlife Service in Colorado, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Tom grew up on a farm in western Iowa and was self-employed in sustainable agriculture from 1983 to 1986. Currently, he teaches ecology, botany, biological research and statistics, natural history, and nature photography. He regularly incorporates field trips and service projects into his classes.

Dr. Thomas Rosburg

The Little Sioux River (left) & Freda Haffner Kettlehole State Preserve (right)