World Wetlands Day 2001: USA
World Wetlands Day at the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park
February 20, 2001
Dear Valerie, Here is a short report and a couple of pictures of our Feb 2 World Wetlands Day Event in Columbus, Ohio, USA, as I promised. I hope you can put it on your Ramsar web site. Thanks for the stickers. They were a great hit and eveybody at our event was wearing one. We still have the sticker on our home page linked to your home page.
Bill Mitsch
William J. Mitsch [ mitsch.1@osu.edu ]
Wetland & River Restoration Center Supported on World Wetlands Day 2001 in USA
The Olentangy River Wetland Research Park (ORWRP) at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA, is already one of the most comprehensive university locations on the planet to study wetlands, how they work, and how we can restore them. Now it is going to get even better.
At a ceremony in Columbus on World Wetlands Day, February 2, 2001, YSI Incorporated, from Yellow Spring, Ohio, announced a $200,000 gift to The Ohio State University toward an Ohio Center for Wetland and River Restoration to be located in a new building at the ORWRP. The Center, established by a 1999 grant from the Ohio Board of Regents, is slated to begin construction in summer 2001.
YSI Incorporated Chairman and CEO Malte von Matthiessen of YSI reminded the 100 participants at this World Wetlands Day luncheon that their company's motto is "Who's Minding the Planet?," a theme that is in concert with the research and teaching that will go on in this new multi-University Center. He and his colleagues in attendance then presented a replica of a check of $200,000 to university officials, led by Bob Moser, Vice-President of Agricultural Administration, and Bill Mitsch, Professor and Director of the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park.
The presentation of the check was preceded by an address by Dr. Mitsch entitled "Saving the Planet in Our Own Backyard: Building for the Future at the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park." He described the 10-year history of creating the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park from scratch at a major university campus, and the goals of the new Ohio Center for Wetland and River Restoration to be located at this campus wetland site. He concluded by challenging the audience to pull together to see that the new building that will house the new Center be completed as soon as it possibly can. We are losing wetlands at too rapid a rate to wait.
The event was festive and yet it brought the demise of world's wetlands to the attention of all of the participants. It also was upbeat in that all in attendance believed that with major scientific and engineering contributions by this new Center, we could make a difference in repairing the hydrologic condition of the planet.
Support from around the world is needed for this important wetland research facility. You can visit the ORWRP at http://swamp.ag.ohio-state.edu for more information. YSI Incorporated's web site is http://www.ysi.com/
Officials from YSI Foundation of Yellow Spring, Ohio, make a $200,000 presentation to the Ohio State University to develop a high-tech Operations Theatre at the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park for wetland data acquisition and sharing from thoughout the world
ORW Postcard --- The Olentangy River Wetland Research Park at The Ohio State University
