Summer Course Connects Students to the Driftless Area

DUBUQUE, Iowa - A slight chill in the air from an overcast sky didn't damper the spirits of the University of Dubuque students and instructors who floated down the Turkey River on a recent summer day. When they returned to their secluded campsite, they grilled burgers and hot dogs before eventually getting in their sleeping bags and letting the sound of the river put them to sleep.

"It was so nice to slow down and rest in nature," said Taylor Sperfslage, a senior chemistry major from Ackley, Iowa.

The camping excursion near Elkader, Iowa, was part of the Environmental Field Studies: Driftless Region summer class that mixed classroom lectures and speakers with field visits and camping trips.

"I chose to attend this class because I recently picked up an environmental science minor and I thought the class would be an informative and fun introduction to the field," Sperfslage said. "I thought, if I'm going to take a class during the summer, I want to take this one where I get to hike, camp, and kayak."

Dale Easley, PhD, professor emeritus of geology, and Tony Vorwald (C'16), adjunct instructor as well as naturalist with Jackson County Conservation, co-taught the class to help connect students to the Driftless Area, a region free from glacial drift in northwestern Illinois, northeastern Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, and southwestern Wisconsin.

"There's so many cool conservation and environmental topics and field sites that students can learn from and appreciate more about the place they live while at UD," Vorwald said.

Two weekend camping trips with multiple field site visits provided the perfect opportunity for students to experience the Driftless Area firsthand. The first trip occurred May 31, 2024, to June 2, 2024, at Pulpit Rock Campground in Decorah, Iowa, while the second happened Friday, June 14, 2024, to Sunday, June 16, 2024, on private property owned by one of Vorwald's friends near Elkader.

"The fundamental view is that if you want people to preserve and conserve nature, you have to help them love it," Easley said. "And camping is an important part of being in nature... The only way you're going to learn to love nature, I think, is to get out in it and see the details."

Students bonded over bonfires and hiking trails. Tents were provided to those who didn't have one.

"One of our students had never set up a tent before," Easley said.

When not at the campsite, the class visited sites including Effigy Mounds National Monument in Harpers Ferry, Iowa, and the Friends of Decorah Fish Hatchery in Decorah. A memorable camping trip moment for Sperfslage occurred while visiting Heritage Valley near Decorah and meeting with Brian Fankhauser, senior land stewardship and blufflands director with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF).

"Brian explained to us the role of the INHF: to protect the land, water, and wildlife of Iowa," Sperfslage said. "At Heritage Valley, the INHF has worked to restore the land to its native landscape by converting farmland to prairie and woodland, controlling invasive species, and managing biodiversity. We as a class were lucky enough to get a guided tour from Brian around the property. It was an incredible experience to submerse ourselves in the land that Iowa once was."

For Vorwald, it was crucial to show students remnant prairies.

"It's some of the rarest ecological landscape on the face of the Earth," he said. "Little remnant pockets of native, original prairie that were once part of 28 million acres of prairies that was in Iowa 200 years ago. Those sites are rich beyond measure and comprehension."

Back at the classroom on campus, students heard from a variety of speakers.

"From this class, I walk away with a greater appreciation for our land and a better understanding of the need to protect and restore it," Sperfslage said. "I now understand that there are a lot of simple practices that can make a big difference for our native wildlife. I've also learned that the most impactful way to get through to people about the importance of preservation is to immerse them in it. You don't have an appreciation or understanding of the importance of it unless you experience it firsthand."

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