Our campus ponds and herbaceous wetlands are teeming with life. These are not only beautiful additions to campus scenery, but they are also working wetlands that store water and prevent flooding during times of heavy rain. The ponds are also used extensively in teaching as they provide a natural laboratory for classes. It is common to see students with nets sampling the insects and fish living in them or photographing dragonflies as part of their studies. A student-inspired initiative to increase campus sustainability caused the pond margins and even floating islands to be planted with native species of marsh plant. The uptick in wildlife activity has been dramatic and we are still finding new species of insect every time we survey. Migratory ducks spend the winter on the ponds, and there is almost always one of our seven species of herons and egrets to be seen.
