Lincoln College’s Dr. G. Dennis Campbell Creekside Outdoor Center for Environmental Education (Creekside), located north of Lincoln, was recently named 2021 Partner of the Year by Illinois RiverWatch.
In its selection of Creekside for this award, the Illinois RiverWatch Network noted that Creekside has supported volunteers conducting annual RiverWatch surveys, sponsored RiverWatch activities with Master Naturalist volunteers and 4H youth groups, and participated in public communication efforts about research findings. Creekside has also organized public Earth Day celebrations and nature festivals that promote RiverWatch priorities within the local agricultural community.
The Illinois RiverWatch Network is a volunteer monitoring initiative coordinated by the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC). RiverWatch is the only statewide biological monitoring program that provides volunteers a hands-on opportunity to become stewards of local waterways by monitoring stream habitat and water quality. The program, established in 1995, hosts over 200 participants annually.
“Lincoln College Creekside has been most fortunate to be an official part of the Illinois RiverWatch Network program since 2014 when Illinois Extension Service Logan County Master Naturalist, Dr. Pam Moriearty, was seeking a site to participate in the RiverWatch monitoring program,” said Dr. Dennis Campbell, Director of Creekside.
In 1996, Dr. Campbell was a Citizen Scientist trainee in Illinois’ early RiverWatch program under the auspices of the Illinois Department of Conservation.
“Many of the techniques used in the monitoring program have been used in a two-decade long freshwater mussel (clam) study on Sugar Creek,” said Dr. Campbell. “It has been Dr. Moriearty, along with other Logan County Master Naturalists, 4H students, and local and Lincoln College volunteers that have been most diligent in accomplishing the many tasks for the present comprehensive RiverWatch monitoring program coordinated by the NGRREC.”
Creekside is an innovative 104-acre educational site recognized by the scientific community for its biological diversity and geological and archeological significance.
The Center features a lecture pavilion, insectarium, greenhouse, restored tall grass prairie, native gardens, demonstration pond, counsel ring and fire pit, solar and wind energy developments, storm water management and rain garden, nature trails, and boardwalk leading to Sugar Creek.
Creekside is an integral part of the hands-on learning opportunities Lincoln College students experience. Coursework for the conversation biology major require students to apply their classroom learning at Creekside. Students from all course levels carry out scientific experiments using portable laboratory equipment capable of taking a wide range of data.
Though frequently used for Lincoln College science curriculum, Creekside is available to area educators for teaching students of all ages about land use, environmental science and conservation, and to the general public for walking and recreation.
Creekside has free parking and portable restroom facilities. Boardwalks and sidewalks make the site handicapped-accessible.
Creekside is approximately 4 miles due north of Lincoln, off of County Rd 2000N halfway between County Road 1100E and 1215th Ave (Google map address is 1234 2000th St., Lincoln, 62656); from Co Rd 2000N take the gravel road (at the large Creekside sign) north to the Center.
For more information, contact Creekside Director, Dr. G. Dennis Campbell, 217-735-7260; dcampbell@lincolncollege.edu
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