Prairie Burn Highlights Start of Green Oaks Term

With a bang and a burn, Knox College's Green Oaks Term 2016 is underway.

The banging of hammers, as Knox students built bird houses and bee hives; the burning of acres of prairie grass, as they continue a half-century of restoration work at Knox's Green Oaks, one of the nation's oldest tallgrass prairie restoration areas.

"I was surprised with how controlled the fire is," said Bernard Anderson, one of 20 Knox students enrolled in Green Oaks Term. Students and faculty managed the burning in late March of two sections of restored prairie.

"This is my first year on a prairie burn, and it's been super-smooth," Anderson said. "The wind has been a factor, but the fire stays controlled."

The annual burn has become one of the key experiences of Green Oaks Term, a ten-week interdisciplinary, off-campus immersion program held at Green Oaks Biological Field Station. The 700-acre research and recreation area in central Knox County, about 20 miles from campus.

The curriculum spans the sciences, including geology, environmental studies, and animal and plant biology; the humanities and social sciences, including history, anthropology and sociology; and the arts, including visual art and creative writing.

With a major in environmental studies and a minor in creative writing, Lee Foxall, a senior from Portland, Oregon, immediately found himself at home in the Green Oaks forest.

During the program's first week, Foxall says, "I built a temporary bridge at South Creek and hung my hammock between two trees. I sat and thought about what it's like to be here. I thought about the ideas—what it means to be manipulating the land, but also experiencing it and taking it at face value.

"I'm getting a sense of place, and then I'll be writing about it," Foxall says. "It's really refreshing."

Casey Stachelski, a senior biology major from Joliet, Illinois, has logged countless hours in science labs on campus. "I've been to Green Oaks with some classes, but this year is my first prairie burn. Green Oaks Term is the most comprehensive field biology I've ever done. I love it!"

The two prairie sections burned this year, eight acres in all, include the tiny Woodcock Field and the larger Shepard Prairie, which is named in memory of biologist Paul Shepard. A member of the Knox faculty, Shepard was instrumental in the inauguration of prairie restoration at Green Oaks in the 1950s.

Controlled burns simulate the role of wildfires as one of the natural processes that over millions of years resulted in Midwestern tallgrass prairies—most of which have been erased by agriculture and development, according to Stuart Allison, professor of biology, director of Green Oaks and organizer of the annual event.

In addition to work in traditional academic disciplines, Green Oaks Term also includes a course in building an "intentional community." The course examines how communities reconcile individuality, social harmony, and collective goals: the students are living full-time at Green Oaks for ten weeks, all in the same building, and they have to get along as they get things done.

It's especially important to Bernard Anderson: "I'm here as a sophomore, and most of the others are juniors and seniors. Everyone has been very welcoming, really working to make it comfortable for all."

The program also features field trips to historic sites, farms and nature areas in Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri; stewardship projects at Green Oaks, including the prairie burn, removal of invasive weeds, and the making of bird houses and bee hives; and an open house and barn dance at the end of the term.

Below, the 2016 Prairie Burn at Green Oaks, with more photos at the Knox College Flickr site.