Prairie restorationist Pauline Drobney to speak

MOUNT VERNON — One of the nation’s leading prairie and savanna restorationists will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, at Cornell College’s Kimmel Theatre.

Pauline Drobney will discuss lessons learned from 15 years of research and management on the prototype tallgrass prairie and savanna ecosystem in a talk titled “Prairie: It’s not just a good idea, or Why do the streams look like chocolate milk?” Admission is free.

Drobney is the land management and research demonstration biologist for prairies and savannas for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She is stationed at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa, and was instrumental in the creation of the 8,600-acre restored prairie and savanna ecosystem that makes up the refuge. The refuge was created by an act of Congress in 1990 to re-create the native plant and animal communities existing in central Iowa prior to Euro-American settlement in the 1840s.

An Iowa native, Drobney grew up with a deep appreciation for agriculture and prairie. After graduate school, she served the Biological Preserves System at the University of Northern Iowa for 12 years. Since 1992, she has served various roles at Neal Smith. She was co-founder and first president of the Iowa Prairie Network; has published essays and scientific papers; and has contributed to several publications and videos, including the movie, “America’s Lost Landscape.”

Drobney’s appearance has been arranged by the Connections program, a consortium of natural science departments from Cornell, Coe and Mount Mercy colleges, Kirkwood Community College and Cedar Rapids Washington High School, plus several natural resource and environmental groups in Linn County. Drobney will meet with students at Cornell and Washington High School. Her visit is co-sponsored by Cornell’s Lecture, Artists and Cultural Events (LACE) consortium.