September 2, 2008

Bill Heyborne		Jane Hey		Jim Stroh

Morningside College biology professors work on “Iowa Wildlife Action Plan”

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has asked two current Morningside College biology professors and a retired Morningside biology professor to join experts from around the state to work on achieving goals outlined in the “Iowa Wildlife Action Plan” (IWAP).

Jim Stroh, associate professor and chair of biology; Bill Heyborne, assistant professor of biology; and Jane Hey, retired professor and chair of biology, are serving on subcommittees that eventually will make recommendations to DNR on the protection of wildlife and critical habitat in Iowa. Stroh is serving on the subcommittee for mammals. Heyborne and Hey are serving on the subcommittee for amphibians and reptiles.

According to Katy Reeder, DNR’s wildlife action plan manager, efforts of the subcommittees will focus on determining the distribution, relative abundance and the ecological needs of wildlife with the greatest conservation need.

IWAP is the first attempt to enumerate most of Iowa’s wildlife and evaluate the status of each species. The U.S. Department of Interior requires wildlife action plans from all states that receive wildlife grants from Congress. Iowa’s plan identifies 999 species of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mussels (freshwater clams), land snails, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies in the state.

Stroh joined the Morningside biology faculty in 1997 and has a doctorate in rangeland ecology from Texas A&M University. Heyborne came to Morningside in 2007 and has a doctorate in biological education from the University of Northern Colorado. Hey taught biology at Morningside for almost 30 years and retired in 2007.