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April 26, 2006
 Dr. Jane Hey, professor and chair of biology at Morningside College, along with Dr. Eugenia Farrar, associate professor of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology at Iowa State University in Ames, are the recipients of a research grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Diversity Program (WDP). The grant proposal “Monitoring Amphibians and Reptiles at the Owego Wetland Complex and Owego Historic Town Site” was written in support of the professors’ ongoing research at the Owego Wetland Complex and Owego Historic Townsite, a 1,350 acre restored wetland ecosystem located three miles northwest of Hornick, Iowa.
Hey and Farrar are co-principal investigators for the study, and Hey is in charge of administering the grant. Three Morningside College students will also be involved in the research at Owego this summer, which will include on-going evaluation of the success of the wetland restoration project for amphibians and reptiles, especially the cricket frog population. The study will also determine the number and types of amphibian species in the area and determine changes as the complex ages and experiences vegetation changes.
Doug Harr, WDP’s state program coordinator, said the project “is the type which we very much need in order to better understand if restoration and management of Iowa’s wetlands are adequately designed and functioning.”
Hey and Farrar have already completed four years of amphibian monitoring at Owego. According to Hey, cricket frogs have been lost from areas in southwestern Minnesota and in parts of northern Iowa, yet remain abundant at the Owego Wetland Complex.
Hey is a frequent presenter on the subject of amphibian and reptile diversity and distribution. She joined the faculty at Morningside in 1979, where she teaches zoology, physiology, and endocrinology. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Monmouth College in Ill., a master’s degree in preventative medicine and environmental health from the University of Iowa at Iowa City, and a doctorate in zoology and genetics from Iowa State University in Ames.
Read more about Hey's research here.
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