COD Hosts Free Tall Grass Prairie Talk Oct. 30 and 31

College of DuPage will host a Tallgrass Talk featuring local author Cindy Crosby from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 30, in the Health and Science Center, Room 1234, and from 11 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Oct. 31, in the Health and Science Center, Room 1135, on the College's Glen Ellyn campus, 425 Fawell Blvd.

These events are free and open to the public.

During her talk, Crosby will present a brief history of prairie, the different ways people have viewed prairie over time, and some of the key prairie plants and their uses by native people and early settlers. She will also suggest ways to develop a closer relationship with the natural world, particularly tallgrass prairieland.

The author of "The Tallgrass Prairie: An Introduction," Cindy Crosby is a steward supervisor for the Schulenberg Prairie at the Morton Arboretum and a steward at Nachussa Grasslands. She is a writer, teacher and lecturer on the tallgrass prairie and nature conservation, and is the author, compiler or contributor to more than 20 books and runs Tuesdays in the Tallgrass, a weekly blog exploring exterior and interior landscapes through the tallgrass prairie.

"The Tallgrass Talk is beneficial for a wide range of participants," said COD Professor of English Danica Hubbard. "It will introduce elements of ecological restoration in our designated prairie right here on campus. College of DuPage has 44 acres of natural areas where students can utilize their outdoor experience on the prairie to engage in interdisciplinary opportunities to learn, problem-solve and embrace new perspectives."

For more information about this event, contact COD Prairie Manager Remic Ensweiler at ensweilerr@cod.edu, (630) 942-3919, or COD Professor of English Danica Hubbard at hubbard@cod.edu, (630) 942-2101.

COD maintains three natural areas on the Glen Ellyn campus: the Russell R. Kirt Prairie, featuring approximately six acres of marsh, a one-acre retention pond, 11 acres of reconstructed prairie and savanna, a quarter mile of seed production beds and more than a half-mile of trails, including a 1/6-mile wheelchair accessible stretch; the Ecological Study Area, featuring three acres of marsh, four acres of successional woodland and eight acres of reconstructed prairie; and the B.J. Hoddinott Wildlife Sanctuary, a nine-acre natural area comprising marsh and wetland.

Click here for more information about the natural restoration areas at College of DuPage.