Bio professors lend a hand at Granville's Land Lab

Denison biology students have been part of a 10-year experiment to rebuild a native habitat from a former soybean field.

An article published by WOSU, said “Biology professors Jessica Rettig and Geoff Smith and their students have been conducting research at the Land Lab from the beginning. While Denison has its own established biological reserve, Smith and Rettig said starting with a “blank slate” at the Land Lab was different.”

“So, the – the basic question as ecologists is if you’re going to reclaim land and try to turn it back into something more natural than a corn field or a soybean field, how does that restoration process actually work?” Rettig said. “How quickly do different plant species, different animal species arrive?”

She gave the example of the turtles who have made homes in the wetlands.

“They’re not, you know, texting each other, ‘hey, I found a new pond,’ but turtles show up and reproduce,” she said.

As for the students, the collaboration between the university and school district gives them the opportunity to work with and learn from each other and different teachers.”