The Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences in partnership with Friends of Shades Creek will host a public lecture by nationally recognized wetland ecologist Thomas R. Biebighauser titled History of Wetland Drainage (How They Pulled the Plug) on Thursday, January 29, at 5:30 p.m. in the Christenberry Planetarium.

Biebighauser’s presentation will examine how historic wetland drainage practices permanently altered streams, wetlands and entire valleys across the United States. Drawing on interviews with individuals who once made a living draining wetlands as well as his own early-career experience, Biebighauser will explain how many waterways that appear natural today are in fact engineered drainage systems designed to last indefinitely.

The lecture will explore how clay drainage tiles installed more than a century ago continue to lower groundwater levels, drain wetlands and reroute streamflow underground. Biebighauser will also highlight how landscapes once shaped by complex wetland systems often maintained by beaver were converted into deeply incised channels with eroding banks, making former wetlands difficult to recognize without specialized knowledge.

Understanding the history of wetland drainage, Biebighauser argues, is essential for identifying former wetland locations and restoring streams and wetlands that once functioned as resilient and biologically rich ecosystems.

Biebighauser is a retired U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist with more than 47 years of experience in wetland and stream restoration. Over the course of his career, he has restored more than 3,600 wetlands and streams across 27 U.S. states and multiple countries, authored four books on wetland restoration and received 45 awards recognizing his contributions to the field.

The event is free and open to the public.