Our November guest speaker was Prairie Ecologist, Chris Helzer. Chris is the Nature Conservancy’s Director of Science in Nebraska. His main role is to evaluate and capture lessons from the Conservancy’s land managements and restoration work along with sharing those lessons with other land managers. Chris also works to raise awareness about the value of prairies and prairie conservation through photography, writing and presentations. He is the author of two books, the most recent being “Hidden Prairie” Photographing Life in One Square Meter”.

On January 30, 2018, at the Lincoln Creek Prairie in Aurora, Nebraska, Chris marked off one square meter of prairie. His goal was to educate people on how much life existed in that one square meter. During that year, he made forty-six visits, each lasting from fifteen to ninety minutes. The total number of species he recorded in 2018 were 113 different plants and animals, with the breakdown as follows: 15 different plants, different species of flies (15), beetles(22), bees (14) and 44 other plants, insects and animals. He is hoping this project will change people’s perceptions of prairies. In doing this project, Chris learned some powerful lessons; he discovered a new way to be quiet, sitting still and waiting for things to come to him. He stated that “a lot happens in a small area of prairie.”