It doesn’t take more than a five-minute walk through campus to notice the stunning natural beauty of Carroll University. The same can be said for all of Waukesha – the county is full of inspiring landscapes, from the winding Fox River to the scenic Glacial Drumlin State Trail. It’s quite the sight, but an environment this happy and healthy doesn’t grow on its own. For the past few years, Carroll students and faculty have been putting themselves to good, clean work.
Dr. Todd Levine, a lecturer in the biology department at Carroll University, led this year’s eco-community cleanup in late April. Levine and his aquatic ecology class partnered with Brad Steckart, the aquatic invasive species specialist for Waukesha and Washington counties, in an effort to reduce the spread of the invasive wetland plant known as purple loosestrife. They collected samples and returned to the university’s Prairie Springs Environmental Education Center, where they simultaneously grew controlled populations of loosestrife and used it to feed and raise a specific type of beetle, the plant’s natural enemy. The beetles were then released into problem patches of wild loosestrife, reducing its growth and density.
The group also gathered the reproductive structures, called bulbils, of an invasive alga named starry stonewort. “Little is known about its life history,” Levine explains, “so we will be sending out the bulbils to researchers throughout the United States, so that they can collectively better predict the impacts and design measures to combat the spread of starry stonewort. Both of these organisms damage our aquatic ecosystems, changing what plants, fish and invertebrates are able to live there and even what the physical and chemical environments look like.”
This is only the most recent undertaking by Dr. Levine and his students to keep the Waukesha area bright and blooming. Previously, they have collaborated with organizations such as the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and contributed over 200 volunteer hours towards restoring damaged stream beds. “This part of the class helps students to give back to local organizations managing aquatic ecosystems,” Levine says, “while they integrate classroom learning in real management-oriented scenarios.” And it doesn’t hurt to spend a day in the sun, especially in a city this pretty.