Situated on the University of Iowa's Ashton Cross Country Course, the Ashton Prairie Living Laboratory (APLL) is an educational and research facility for UI students and researchers and the local community.

The APLL began as an idea and collaboration between former UI student Megan Lenss, Assoc. Prof. Andrew Forbes, Adjunct Instructor Mike Fallon, Athletics Head Groundskeeper Tony Senio, and Stratis Giannakouros, Director, OSE. The UI Dept. of Athletics has generously provided space at the Ashton Cross Country Course for the APLL.

The APLL facility is a joint collaboration between the Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE), UI Athletics, the Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Dept. of Biology, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering.

The APLL is a cross-campus effort and part of a broader vision as stated in the 2030 sustainability goals. The UI and OSE are creating living laboratories campus-wide; providing opportunities for students and researchers to make the campus more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Multiple courses use the APLL as an outdoor classroom for applied coursework and student-led research.

As APLL grows and matures, more students, faculty, and staff will teach courses, conduct research, and explore the prairie reconstructions.  To volunteer at APLL or OSE, use the following link to contact the: Office of Sustainability and the Environment.

Take a self-guided tour of the APLL.

Background

Until the early 1840's, about 95% of Iowa was blanketed in native grasses and wildflower; a landscape known as the Tallgrass Prairie. This astonishingly biodiverse "verdant sea of grass" was home to millions of Indigenous peoples. With the arrival of Euro-American colonizers, the once rich and nutrient-dense soil was over-exploited through a combination of poor farming practices and industrialized agriculture. Today, less than 0.1% of the original Tallgrass Prairie remains in Iowa.

As a public institution serving the greater good, the UI is beginning to reverse the centuries-long degradation of the Tallgrass Prairie. The APLL is essential in this effort, by providing hands-on educational opportunities to UI students, faculty, and staff, UI is preserving and expanding a rare and endangered native landscape.

Timeline

• Winter 2018/2019 - Megan Lenss, Tony Senio, Stratis Giannakouros & Mike Fallon meet to discuss the possibility of planting a prairie on the UI campus.  All agree that they would like to see more sustainable landscapes on the campus.

• Winter 2019 - Megan Lenss & Michael Fallon wrote the first proposal outlining the prairie reconstruction project concept which is now renamed Ashton Prairie Living Lab (APLL). 

• Spring 2019 - The UI Athletics Department gave the "green light" for a pilot 1.0-acre prairie reconstruction planting at the UI Ashton Cross Country Course.

• Summer 2019 - Tony Senio and crew mow and apply herbicide to the 1.0-acre pilot APLL project area.

• Autumn 2019 - Mike Fallon develops a native plant seed list for the 1.0-acre pilot APLL planting.

• Spring 2020 - Mike Fallon's students and volunteers prepare and hand-broadcast the native plant seed onto the 1.0-acre pilot APLL project area.

• Summer 2020 - Mike Fallon, Megan Lenss, Tony Senio, and the UI Athletics grounds crew mow the newly planted 1.0-acre pilot APLL project area.

• Winter 2020/2021 - The UI Athletics Department gives the "green light" for an additional 7.5 acres at the UI Ashton Cross Country Course for conversion to prairie. Mike Fallon develops a native plant seed list for the 7.5-acre prairie planting.

• Spring 2021 - Tony Senio installs the new sign at the APLL site.

• Summer 2021 - Mike Fallon, Megan Lenss, Tony Senio, and the UI Athletics grounds crew mow the 1.0-acre prairie planting.  Tony Senio and crew mow and apply herbicide to the 7.5-acre APLL project area.

• Autumn 2021 - Tony Senio and crew rake the 7.5-acre APLL project area.

• Winter 2021 - Mike Fallon, Blake Rupe, Elizabeth Mackenzie, students, and OSE staff hand-broadcast the native plant seed on to the 7.5-acre APLL project area.

• Summer 2022 - Tony Senio and crew mow the entire APLL project area.

People involved in APLL

• Michael Fallon, Adjunct Instructor, UI Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) 

• Megan Lenss, former Undergraduate student, UI Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES)

• Stratis Giannakouros, Director, UI Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE)

• Tony Senio, Supervisor & Head Groundskeeper, UI Athletics Department

• Blake Rupe, former Sustainability Program Manager, UI Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE) 

• Elizabeth Mackenzie, Sustainability Program Manager, UI Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE) 

Our partners

We owe special thanks to the UI Dept. of Athletics for permission to reconstruct prairie at the Ashton Cross Country Course. The UI Undergraduate Student Government provided a $1,500 grant to purchase native plant seed for the first prairie reconstruction.  Finally, we thank the Iowa Native Plant Society (INPS) for a $500 grant award to the design and manufacture educational signage.