Remic Ensweiler was hired as the new manager of the Russell R. Kirt Prairie in an attempt to mend the rocky relationship between the natural area and College of DuPage. While he has only been here a short while, he has accomplished more than his fair share and has great plans for the future.

Most of the time you can find Ensweiler working outside. “I hand pull, cut and spray weeds,” said Ensweiler. “I cut down small trees. That’s a big part of it.”

On a day-to-day basis, you can find him doing a number of things based on the season. “I’ll be spreading seeds on the earth tomorrow,” said Ensweiler.

His work consists of a large amount of labor. This can mean anything from cutting and digging out the root system of small trees to chainsawing down larger ones. It also involved preparing the earth for the spring to come and making sure seeds that are able to lay dormant through winter are in place and ready to go.

Ensweiler has big dreams for the future of our prairie. “ I would really like to get entrenched with other agencies in the area, said Ensweiler. “Fermilab, Argonne National Laboratory, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, they all have an organization called ‘Friends of’ (Friends of Midewin, Friends of Argonne, etc.). This is a nonprofit that is there to protect the prairie.”

He goes on to discuss the thought process behind such an idea. “President [Robert] Brueder came in and he decided that he didn’t like the prairie. He came in and basically wanted to get rid of it. Luckily he wasn’t able to, simply because of the logistics of it. But that those logistical roadblocks not been there, he probably would have been able to. So what I want to do is build a coalition of community members of students, staff members and faculty and myself, as well as whatever other stakeholders are there. I want to create a ‘Friends of the COD Prairie’ Foundation.”

Ensweiler has also spent a lot of time focusing on the administrative side of our prairie’s management.

“A big part of my job here has been raising the brand and community outreach of the prairie.”

He has certainly done his fair share. This semester alone he has had approximately 215 people volunteer and put in 475 hours this semester.

He’s also updated the school’s official prairie tours to the public. “Those have been here since 2009. The biology faculty did around one or two a year. But there wasn’t somebody specifically there to steward the prairie. Not only to be its protector but to be its voice within the community.”

After attending many conferences, Ensweiler hopes to soon be speaking at them and sharing information about the great resource we have right in our backyard.

He has also been helpful in saving and raising money for the school to put back into the prairie fund.

“I conduct prescribed burns. By doing it in-house, we’re saving thousands of dollars,” said Ensweiler. “Whereas in the past seven years, when the previous prairie manager left, they’ve had to contract it out. It’s been a boom for the ecology and for College of Dupage to be able to do that sort of thing.

The seed processing is a valuable commodity,” Ensweiler continued. “We’ve harvested over 40 species of native plant seed.For example, onion, which I have a lot of, costs $170 for less than a pound. We’ve gained a lot of monetary value, as well as ecological value.”

His work here on campus has helped the propagation of the greenhouse and upgrade trail maintenance. “Now people can walk through them,” he kidded. “I just have to convince people to actually use it.”

Ensweiler wants to be as approachable to students as he can be, and he works hard at creating opportunities for them.

“When I was in school, I would have loved to have had the opportunity that’s offered here for volunteering on the prairie,” said Einsweiler. “I can be a good education resource for [students], and if they work well for me I can be a reference for them. That’s invaluable for someone who wants to go into this field.”

When asked what he hoped for in the prairie’s relationship with the school, his answer was a simple one: “We’re hoping to get a couple benches built from the construction department, and maybe a picnic table or two. I want the students to know we are trying to make it a place that they can actually utilize.”

Interested in getting involved? Follow Russell R. Kirt Prairie on Instagram and facebook. Looking for something more hands on? Join Ensweiler and his prairie lovin’ friends with seed processing for the spring in room HSC 1307.