MAD Scientist Associates, LLC

December 18, 2019 This year we had the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of our labor for several wetland sites across the state. Below are before and after photos of two wetland creation sites we worked on in Lucas County and Hamilton County. Click the images to see site progress. The photos above show an emergent marsh created in a historic burrow pit in Lucas County, Ohio. We completed a series of these burrow pit “retrofits” throughout the County in 2018. Wetland areas were excavated and planted with herbaceous plugs by volunteers. While it’s common to introduce a native seed mix, these sites relied on their seed bank for natural regeneration, and they appear to be doing great! This client, in Hamilton County, has waited […]

December 18, 2019 It’s been a remarkably busy field season this year, which (much to our enjoyment) didn’t slow as fall and winter approached. This fall (in just over a week), we installed over 1,000 container trees (20+ acres) in Pickaway County on behalf of Appalachia Ohio Alliance. Plantings will help reforest fields previously row-cropped, connect fragmented forests, aid in reducing floodwaters and sediment erosion in the Scioto River floodplain, and hopefully shade-out established Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) within the project area. Click the images to see additional photos.

December 18, 2019 This October, we worked with nearly 50 community volunteers in Dublin to capture and relocate aquatic life (hundreds of tadpoles and ~500 fish!) from an old silted-in farm pond that will be temporarily drained to allow for sediment removal and reshaping to enhance its ecological and recreational value. Of course, we worked some expanded wetland areas into the design. We’re looking forward to the completion of this project and seeing the Pond restocked with fish! To learn more about this project, check out the article published by the City of Dublin here.

December 18, 2019 Mark had the unique opportunity to participate in the Teen EcoSummit held at the Columbus Zoo. Attendants included students and teachers from around the state who have an interest in improving conservation and sustainability efforts at their schools. Their objective in attending was to develop a “Conservation Action Plan” and then present their plan in a friendly competition to obtain funding (on the spot!) to help implement their plans. Mark presented “Creating Schoolyard Wetlands for Wildlife,” which provided attendants with a basic background in wetland loss and ecosystem services, practical wetland creation-restoration options for schools, and examples of school success stories.

  December 18, 2019 This field season was full of exciting botanical survey work across Ohio. In a typical year, we get a handful of floristic surveys, often Floristic Quality Assessments (FQA) or Vegetative Index of Biologic Integrity (VIBI) evaluations, used to categorize wetlands or better define plant community dynamics. In this banner year, nearly every day in late-June through July was packed with comprehensive ecological surveys, VIBI assessments, and Threatened & Endangered (T&E) plant surveys. In June, Mark Dilley and Jenny Adkins returned to a site in Pickaway County known to contain the State-threatened Raven’s Foot Sedge (Carex crus-corvi). In 2017, MAD   located three of the targeted sedges within the survey area, and many more in a forested wetland nearby. This year they […]

December 18, 2019 For those of you not hip to botanical slang, “Sedge Heads” refers to a group of plant enthusiasts that specialize in identifying sedges, a type of graminoid. Jenny Adkins, Lead Botanist, fancies herself as one, and Jim Palus, Restoration Specialist, as well. In May, they had the unique opportunity to train with Dr. Rob Naczi, the Arthur J. Cronquist Curator of North American Botany at the New York Botanical Garden. During this workshop, held at the Edge of Appalachia (EOA) in Adams County, they worked through detailed botanical text to identify herbarium specimens, as well as observed a variety of State, Federal, and Globally rare species within the EOA Preserve. This workshop was aptly timed, as their recently honed skills were applied […]

December 18, 2019 Last spring, the MAD Scientist Associates team, led by Aquatic Ecologist, Jenna Odegard, and assisted by Jackie Kopechek conducted an Amphibian Index of Biotic Integrity (AmphIBI) in two vernal pools in Ashtabula County, positioned at the northeastern tip of Ohio. Three rounds of quantitative and qualitative sampling took place in April, May, and June. Following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methodology, the team sampled quantitatively using minnow traps and qualitatively using dipnets and by flipping logs. The AmphIBI yielded documentation of four species of salamander and seven species of frogs and toads. The eggs of a Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum), a species of concern in Ohio, were observed during this sampling effort. Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), a high-scoring, vernal pool obligate, were common […]

May 28, 2019 May is National Wetlands Month, and MAD was happy to host several educational programs that promote understanding and appreciation of wetland habitats. Each year, we partner with the City of Westerville to host a Wetland Weekend that is free and open to the public. First, we kick things off with a Frog Friday event in the evening, where attendants learn about local amphibians and are encouraged to trek through the wetland in search of egg masses, tadpoles, and breeding adults. The following morning, we host the Wetland Workshop, which covers a broader expanse of wetland ecology, as well as time to explore and enhance the wetland through invasive species removal, native plantings, and picking up litter. This year, we also assisted the […]

December 21, 2018 2018 was an especially productive year for wetland habitat improvement. In total, we completed nearly 13 acres of wetland restoration/creation across 5 Ohio Counties (Lucas, Delaware, Franklin, Greene, and Hamilton). Wetland types included deep emergent marsh, shallow marsh, sedge meadow, and wetland fringe. These wetlands were created or restored for many purposes, including education, stewardship, public park amenities, recreation and mitigation. We have several projects in the works that we anticipate will add nearly 30 acres of wetland to Ohio’s landscape in 2019! If you have a wetland project in mind and need professional guidance implementing your plan, please give us a call!