A pocket of Columbus has its own smaller pockets, and they’re rich with plants and wildlife.
The next Environmental Professionals Network breakfast program will explore these biodiversity oases and how residents are working to protect them.
“Valuing Landscapes: The Ravines of Clintonville” is from 7:15 to 9:15 a.m. June 8 in the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, at Ohio State in Columbus. Admission is open to both EPN members and the public.
Clintonville is a neighborhood in north-central Columbus, and its many ravines — including Glen Echo, Walhalla and Overbrook — carry streams down to the Olentangy River. Creatures you might not expect in the city, such as barred owls and eastern red-backed salamanders, call the green, wooded, sheltered places home.
Beauty and biodiversity
“The beauty and solitude of these ravines were recognized by developers and preservationists since at least the 1920s,” said David Hanselmann, a lecturer in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources and EPN’s coordinator.
Speaking at the program will be recent SENR doctoral graduate Mike Graziano, Ohio Wesleyan University’s John Krygier, and Laura Fay of MS Consultants and the Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed.
- Graziano received his PhD in ecological restoration from SENR earlier this month. He’ll present “Getting to Know the Ravines of Clintonville” and “Ecology of the Ravines.”
- Krygier, who’s a geology and geography professor at Ohio Wesleyan, located in Delaware just north of Columbus, will discuss “History of the Ravines and Community Interest.”
- Fay is grants director with MS Consultants in Columbus and volunteer secretary for FLOW. She’ll talk on “Grassroots Community Initiatives and Organizations: Who They Are, What They Do.”
A Q&A session and discussion will follow.
How to register
Registration for the event, which includes breakfast, is $10 or $15, depending on payment method. It’s free for Ohio State students. Details and a link to register online are at go.osu.edu/JuneEPN.
For more information, contact Hanselmann at hanselmann.3@osu.edu or 614-247-1908.
EPN is a statewide professional group. Membership is free and open to anyone working or studying in an environmental field. It’s a service of SENR, part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Its website is at epn.osu.edu.