In case you missed it – 2025 event recap
Signature Events
Our third annual Monarch Magic was held at Ada Hayden Heritage Park in Ames on September 6th. 37 families brought their kids to learn about butterflies and nature with hands-on activities. Normally we tag butterflies but didn’t this year because of concern about their numbers. Thanks to Friends of Ada Hayden Heritage Park, Raising Readers in Story County, The Outdoor Alliance of Story County, Trees Forever, Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, Story County Conservation, Boone County Conservation, Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens, Big Bluestem Audubon Society, Pollinator Friendly Ames, Iowa Monarch Consortium, City of Ames (Parks and Rec and Smart Watersheds) for participating!
Our sixth creek cleanup, which we’re now calling PACRAT (Paddle and Cleanup Rivers Around Town) was held on May 3rd. Thirty-three volunteers removed 3,200 pounds of trash from Ioway Creek! Thanks to the City of Ames, Story County Conservation, Outdoor Alliance of Story County, and Skunk River Paddlers for helping make it happen!
Volunteer water monitoring
We continue to experiment with the format for seasonal volunteer monitoring events. In May (as described in another article), we coordinated our event in Story County with Polk County Conservation and created a map showing water quality across central Iowa. On October 11, eight volunteers joined us bright and early so we could test dissolved oxygen at the low point in its daily cycle, for an event we billed as a “water quality breakfast.” All but one of the sites we tested had dissolved oxygen levels of 8 mg/L or higher, which means we weren’t able to narrow down the cause of the problems we’ve seen in past years, but it’s good news for fish and other aquatic life! The lowest reading was College Creek at the ISU Arboretum (6 mg/L), where the water was barely flowing.
Fall is also a good time for biological monitoring. On October 3, an Ames High School environmental science class helped me survey aquatic invertebrates at Brookside Park in Ames. We found enough insects to make it interesting for the students but not a wide enough variety to indicate a healthy aquatic community–the overall score was “fair.” In one picture below, you can see a new cross-vane structure which redirects the creek’s flow to the center and away from eroding banks. It’s one of several interventions the city is making that we hope will reduce erosion and improve aquatic habitat.
Presentations
Dan and Katelyn are always happy to talk about water quality, pollinators, or land stewardship. Our speaking engagements this year included:
- A sustainable agriculture class at Iowa State University
- Kirkwood Women in Natural Resources Club
- An evening program in Mason City for Iowa Project A.W.A.R.E.
- Central Iowa Beekeepers Association winter seminar, by Zoom
- A Story County Master Gardeners meeting in Ames
- A joint meeting in Stanhope of the Ioway Creek and Headwaters of the South Skunk River Watershed Management Authorities
- A panel discussion at a statewide gathering of watershed management authorities in Cedar Rapids
- A non-partisan rally organized by the Iowa League of Women Voters
We also hosted a webinar about the importance of native habitat featuring speaker Sarah Nizzi of Xerces Society.
Tabling
Thanks to the following organizations for giving us an opportunity to set up a display and meet members of the community.
- EcoVision at the Ames Public Library
- STEAM Around the World, organized by the Nevada PTA
We’re looking forward to more opportunities to engage with communities in central Iowa and beyond in what’s left of 2025, and next year!


































