Prescribed Fire at CERA
Prescribed fire is a key restoration tool used at CERA to maintain prairie, savanna, and forest ecosystems. Fire stimulates growth and flowering of native vegetation, helps control invasive species, and helps keep woody species from establishing in prairie.
Fire is also applied as an experimental treatment to research plots established in prairie and forest ecosystems. The photo at right shows the application of fire to one of 10 forest research plots that are burned each fall. Students in Bio 252: Organisms, Evolution and Ecology learn how to measure and describe plant species diversity in these plots each spring.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to preserve and, through restoration, recreate a part of Iowa's vanishing natural heritage, providing a resource for the entire college, local schools, environmental groups, clubs, and the general public.
50 kW wind turbine
The wind turbine erected in January 2007 will provide over 90% of the electricity needs for our 7500 sq ft Environmental Education Center. The wind power will reduce carbon dioxide emissions related to energy use by the facility by 200,000 pounds per year. Visit our Facilities page for links to more photos and videos of installation.
CERA Green Touchscreen Kiosk
The interactive kiosk in the Environmental Education Center explains the building's green design features (like the geothermal heating-cooling system, and cistern for gray water recycling), graphs real-time data on water and energy use (in comparison to similarly-sized buildings), summarizes curricular, research, restoration, and outreach uses of CERA, and provides real-time weather data from the CERA weather station. See the interactive kiosk.
Extras
Looking for a trail map? Find it on our Visitor page. Visit CERA through a virtual or historical tour. Read more about CERA's 40th anniversary, celebrated in the Fall 2008.
