Bob Welch will explore Wisconsin’s natural heritage at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, at the the Waupaca Area Public Library.
Hosted by winchester Academy, the program is free and open to the public.
Welch is the director and ecologist at the Waupaca Biological Field Station. He also teaches biology, earth science and environmental science at Waupaca Middle School.
A quiet, rustic road west of Waupaca leads to an 1856 farmstead nestled between almost 3,000 acres of state-owned properties at Hartman Creek State Park and Emmons Creek State Fishery Area. This worn-out 170-acre sand farm has been protecting sand prairie and oak savanna eco-systems that have survived more than 100 years of grazing and haying.
With the discovery of eight endangered or threatened species, the property was converted into a nationally recognized laboratory for the study and protection of Wisconsin’s natural heritage.
In 1985, it was designated the Waupaca Biological Field Station and 155 acres were designated as part of the Emmons Creek Barrens State Natural Area in 2002.
For more than a decade, local students have been volunteering as research assistants, working under scientists who are studying the endangered Karner blue butterfly and the butterfly’s larval food wild lupine.
Welch will discuss the three purposes of the Waupaca Biological Field Station: land stewardship, ecological research, and conservation education.
His presentation will highlight a variety of species, including ants, mussels, butterflies, wood turtles and the red-shouldered hawk.
Welch’s goal is that listeners will learn to appreciate the natural resources that still can be found across central Wisconsin, some right in their own backyard.
Welch received both his bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology and his master’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, with additional graduate work at Colorado State University and other Wisconsin universities.
Programs are funded through sponsors and tax-deductible donations. Welch’s program is sponsored by Revs. Mary and Jim Trainor.
For more information about Winchester Academy and the fall 2014 series, check winchesteracademywaupaca.org or contact Executive Director Ann Buerger Linden at 715-258-2927 or [email protected].