UNI Tallgrass Prairie Center to
hold open house
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University
of Northern Iowa's
Tallgrass Prairie Center will hold a fall open house from 3 to 5
p.m., Wednesday,
Oct. 12, to showcase new renovations and building expansion. The
center is located
on the western edge of campus at 2412 W. 27th Street, west of
Hudson Road.
Visitors can learn about programs
and projects, visit with
the staff, view the facilities and landscape and enjoy
refreshments. "We
really want to encourage everyone to come and see what is going
on," said Daryl Smith,
director of the center.
"We have lots of programs that will interest many people. The
open house
is a good opportunity to learn about what we are doing. We are
also very proud
of our newly renovated and expanded facilities which include a
new laboratory,
seed storage room, new office space for graduate students and
expanded shop and
equipment storage facilities."
The center's mission is to restore
native vegetation for the
benefit of society and environment through research, education
and
technology. There
are three primary programs that include the Prairie Institute,
the Integrated
Roadside Vegetation Management Program (IRVM) and the Natural
Selections
Program (Iowa Ecotype Project). The Prairie Institute continues
UNI's 35-year
commitment to prairie reconstruction, restoration, management
and advocacy. The
IRVM program assists Iowa counties in implementing programs
utilizing native
vegetation. The Natural Selections Program provides and promotes
source-identified
seed of Iowan origin to increase its commercial availability and
affordability.
This event is free and open to the
public. Refreshments will
be provided. For more information, visit
www.tallgrassprairiecenter.org.