From the Concrete to the Wild

Splinter Hill Bog in Perdido, Alabama, is just one of the many wetlands that the Fundamentals in Wetlands Ecology class conducted site visits and fieldwork for the course. This gave students an immersive and tactile experience.(U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, research biologists and Fundamentals in Wetlands Ecology Instructors, Nia R. Hurst, and Kevin D. Philley teach students how to determine the presence and or absence of reduced soil conditions using Indicator of Reduction in Soils (IRIS) Films. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

A green tree frog rests on a blade of grass in Spanish Fort, Alabama. Students enrolled in the Fundamentals of Ecology Wetlands Course were challenged to a scavenger hunt and had to document their findings in the field. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, research biologists, and Fundamentals in Wetlands Ecology Instructor Nia R. Hurst holds a soil sample containing iron. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

Eriocaulon, commonly called pipe-worts, are scattered throughout the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge's trail. The refuge, located just across the Alabama state line, is a wet pine savanna-like ecosystem, one of the many types of wetlands in the Gulf Coast area.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, research biologists, and Fundamentals in Wetlands Ecology instructors Jacob Berkowitz and Jaybus Price discuss wetland indicators by taking the class into the field. Classroom presentations and field trip participation provide students with state-of-the-art basic knowledge of wetland flora and fauna, hydrology, soils, and ecology. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, research biologists and Fundamentals in Wetlands Ecology Instructors, Kevin D. Philley teach students how to determine the presence and or absence of reduced soil conditions using Alpha-alpha-Dipyridyl test strips. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, soil scientist Jacob Berkowitz shows his student James Mace, Los Angeles Districts, regulatory team lead, exoskeletons that lined the interior of the carnivorous pitcher plant at the Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog in Foley, Alabama. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, research biologists and Fundamentals in Wetlands Ecology instructor, Jaybus Price, holds a Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata). Classroom presentations and field trip participation provide students with state-of-the-art basic knowledge of wetland flora and fauna, hydrology, soils, and ecology. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

Cypress Knees are pneumatophores, they are part of the bald cypress tree root structure that help the tree absorb oxygen from the air especially when its roots are submerged in water or growing in poorly aerated soil. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, chemist Kyle Bayliff, one of the students in the Fundamental of Wetlands Ecology class takes a photo of a fungus for a class assignment where students are tasked to document findings in the field with what they have learned in the classroom. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

An Osprey Brings a fish to its nest on the Apalachee River in Mobile, Alabama. Mobile is known as North America's Amazon, and according to the National Environmental Education Foundation, it has a tremendous variety of wetland habitats. A ride on the Apalachee River is a field trip during the Fundamentals of Ecology Wetlands Course. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

Purple Pitcher Plants' blooms serve to lure pollinators, and the leaves pitcher shape fills with water where insects drown. It is through this method that the carnivorous plant obtains its prey. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, soil scientist Jacob Berkowitz shows his students digested exoskeletons that lined the interior of the carnivorous pitcher plant at the Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog in Foley, Alabama. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

Genus Nothoscordum is a genus of the New World Plants in the Onion Tribe. The Fundamentals of Ecology Wetlands Course usually takes place in early spring, when dozens of plants are beginning to blossom. Flora is just one of the many indicators of wetlands. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, research biologist Sydney Bufkin, and Maria Teresi, a biologist from the Baltimore District, at a hydric soil indicator chart using the Munsell Soil Color Book to determine different types of field soils. A hydric soil is a soil formed under saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions. This is one of the many experiences that students receive in the Fundamentals of Ecology Wetlands Course. (U.S. Army Photo by Brigida I. Sanchez)

If you were raised in Brooklyn, New York, in the 80s like me, or if you were raised in a similar environment here wildflowers were “weeds’ popping out from the cracks of concrete or abandoned lots, your familiarity with wetlands might be extremely limited. Perhaps you should consider taking a class on wetlands.

To be quite honest, before working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), I had no concept of a wetland other than it was the swamp where Walter Lantz’s cartoon character Woody Woodpecker lived.

Wetland (noun): Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Once, at USACE’s Jacksonville District, that started to change, and one day as I caught the sun setting over the intercoastal. I pulled my vehicle over, grabbed the camera, scampered onto the roof, and watched as the golden light showered the rustling blades of grass. The low buzz of marsh flies and mosquitoes, and the percussive croaking of frogs harmonized before the evening concerto.

That was the moment I woke up as the day went to sleep.

Many questions came to mind: what exactly was I looking at? What is the difference between a swamp, a marsh, and a wetland? And how is it that this was the first time I recognized their beauty?

It took me a few years to find my way to the Fundamentals of Wetlands Ecology course that USACE makes available to interested staff members.

Prospect: is a job-related training program consisting of approximately 200 courses. All courses are developed or revised according to the Corps of Engineers Systems Approach to Training outlined in ER 690-1-414.

Old Sneakers, a ball cap, a notebook, and a pen are the basic requirements for this course in Mobile, Alabama. Don’t be intimidated by the name! Even though I knew that I was, I hoped that the little knowledge I had was enough to help me get by.

I quickly learned that this course was meant to meet students where they are, and it truly helped to be curious and passionate about learning.

Growing up in an environment dominated by humans, concrete, and glass did not hold me back. In fact, I felt wonder when I was made aware of all the insects, plants, and animals around me.

The class was engaging, and the students with experience in the fields of biology and ecology were encouraging and served as surrogate teachers.

I spotted my fellow wetland novice, USACE chemist Kyle Bayliff crawling, climbing, photographing, and asking a great many questions immediately. Like myself with communication courses, Kyle had taken all the chemistry-related prospect courses.

Bayliff explained, “Nature has always been a personal passion, and the ecology prospect courses are always good for some hands-on nature interaction in unique ecosystems.”

The course was five days long and held in Mobile, Alabama, also known as the Amazon of North America. And according to the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), it contains a tremendous variety of wetland habitats ” (www.neefusa.org).

In the morning, we learned through text and didactic discourse a foundation for the time we would later spend in the field and where we really dug in. (Pun intended.) Lessons included Wetland Dynamics, Wetland Classification, Hydrology, Biogeochemistry (don’t freak out ), Fauna Management, Functions and Values Assessments, Creation and Restoration, Soils, Vegetation, Monitoring, and Case Studies.

USACE, Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC), research biologist and lead instructor Sydney Bufkin said, “We decided that having a field component to this course was crucial to provide hands-on learning opportunities that would reinforce lessons taught in the classroom. The field sites were carefully chosen because they offered opportunities for attendees to apply multiple skills taught throughout the course that could be used to evaluate the wetland visited, to understand its functions, and what environmental factors are causing it to function in that way. “

Part of the course’s objective is to expose the rich diversity of wetlands located in the Mobile Bay region to students from all over the United States. Students (USACE Employees) were in awe.

Awe (Noun): an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred sublime.

You might be thinking “Awe” is too strong a word or that I might be editorializing. Alas, you are wrong.

We first visited Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve; here, we were able to appreciate the ecosystem. Estuaries occur where the river meets the sea. Here, we could clearly see the delineation of Upland, Swamp, and Marsh, along with their subcategories.

Our next outing was at Muddy Creek Wetlands Management Area, a restored wetland with a 2.3-mile interpretive trail; we learned how to collect data using plants, shrubs, and trees. Our next outing was a Sandhill Crane Refuge; we explored the trail, searched, and identified different types of flora and other wetland indicators . We were even graced by the presence of a critically endangered Mississippi sandhill Cranes. Then, we visited a bog surrounded by various shapes and sizes of carnivorous plants. Here, we learned how to take soil samples and even more ways to identify wetlands.

On our last excursion to Blakely State Park, we took a boat up the Tensaw River and back around to the Apalachee River. This is where we could truly put the knowledge we acquired throughout the week to practice.

Bayliff and I agreed that going out to the field enhanced the learning experience.

“I loved the field trips, but picking just one is hard. Seeing the endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes at the Nation Wildlife Refuge was very cool, as was seeing the alligators on the boat tour at Blakely State Park. I also really loved seeing the carnivorous sundews and pitcher plants in the bog habitats,” said Bayliff.

Integrate (verb) combine (one thing) with another so that they become a whole.

Bufkin would encourage all employees to take the Fundamentals in Wetlands Ecology course.

“I think having someone attend the course with a different background than the typical attendee was great! The fresh perspective brought from people coming from different career fields can stimulate new discussions and encourage people to see topics from a different point of view,” said Bufkin.

From a student’s perspective other than my own:

Bayliff noted, “Unfortunately, I don’t think the course material is likely to impact my day-to-day work directly (I primarily review project documents for chemistry data quality assurance). However, it was great learning about some of the chemical processes that occur in wetland environments, and it’s possible, given the right project site, that bioremediation with a natural or constructed wetland might be just the right solution to help clean up a contaminated site.”

Bayliff might take a while to integrate the knowledge he acquired, but with USACE’s momentum in moving towards Engineering With Nature ®, it might be sooner rather than later.

This team of ERDC scientists is armed with a profound passion for inspiring and empowering students. The team wants them to think about intentionally aligning natural and engineering processes to efficiently and sustainably deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits through collaboration.

It behooves the USACE enterprise to send all of its team members, from those who support to those who lead this organization.

Not everyone has grown up in a concrete jungle, but we are surrounded by our own jungles comprised of laptops, memorandums, and web meeting. Juxtaposed to the manmade objects that surround us is the fragility and the determination of the natural environment. It sustains us, and when cared, for it can protect us.

Time is of essence, If we don’t step outside of our comfort zone, we won’t grow personally or as an organization.

ERDC course instructors are available to provide direct technical support to District projects involving wetlands to class participants or any USACE employees. For more information contact lead instructor Sydney Bufkin at Sydney.d.bufkin@usace.army.mil.

From the Concrete to the Wild

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