Winter 2004

People Who Are Taking Nature's Pulse
By Katherine Millett | Photography by Rob Warner
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Mike Mieszala: The Kids Did It

Mike Mieszala won't take credit for the content of his novel science class.

"The kids did it, not me," he says. "I just gave them a chance to use the field monitoring techniques I learned at an EcoWatch workshop, and they did the rest."

Seven years ago, Mieszala invited junior and senior biology students at Warren Township High School in Gurnee to give up a Saturday to monitor butterflies and measure groundwater levels. They found their experience so interesting that they wanted fieldwork to become part of the curriculum. Mieszala suggested they talk to the department head, who sent them to the principal, who sent them to the school board. After board members listened to the students' presentation and watched a videotape the students had recorded of their experience, they approved the request.

Today, six sections of environmental science classes follow protocols for PrairieWatch and ForestWatch, programs developed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and study ecosystem dynamics and species identification in the classroom.

"Learning the names of species definitely makes you notice more," says Sarah Blue, a senior. "You think, 'Oh my gosh, they're not all the same. That butterfly is a painted lady, and that one's a pearly [crescentspot].' When you see the details, you feel more connected to the land."

A smile lurks under Mieszala's sand-colored moustache, but he is a demanding teacher who makes his students think. Last fall, he took a group to Prairie Crossing to monitor groundwater levels for PrairieWatch at a restoration site. Old drainage tiles had been removed from a sedge meadow sloping down to a creek. The students' job was to check seven wells along the slope to monitor how water is returning to this historically wet ecosystem. They began by taking out clipboards and recording air temperature and cloud cover, the last time it rained, and the condition of the wells. Then they dropped a tape measure into each well, with a sensor tied to the end to shine a red light if it touched water.

"The red light didn't go on," said a student, "but there's mud on this thing."

"What does that mean?" Mieszala asked, slouching slightly and folding his arms.

"No water?"

"That's right, and that's important. So is the mud. Write it down." Later, Mieszala reminded them to deduct the length of the sensor from each depth measurement. His classes produce such high-quality data they have received letters of appreciation from the Department of Natural Resources.

"These students grew up in a landscape someone called 'The Wides,'" said Mieszala, looking toward a gentle slope and moving his arm along the arc of its contour, "and most of them will stay here. It bothered me that a lot of them didn't know the names of the trees in their own yards."

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