Harper College
Biological Sciences

Craig Stettner Prairie

Two people working at Craig Stettner Prairie at Harper College stand by a wooden fence; one holds a survey pole and the other holds a tablet, with tall grasses and wildflowers behind them

Craig Stettner Prairie

About Our Prairie

The Craig Stettner Prairie is maintained by Harper College’s Biology Department. This site was once an old farm field. Work began in the mid 1980’s to transform the field into a prairie research area for the Biology Department. Faculty, staff, and students have worked for decades to create the campus prairie we have today.

The prairie is dedicated in name to beloved professor Craig Stettner who helped transform acres of grassland into a robust ecological and learning community.

The Biology Department frequently hosts volunteer events that involve removal of invasive species, seed collection, and seeding of the prairie. To be added to the volunteer list for prairie workdays, please click the button below to open our volunteer signup form.

Clipart student pulling weedsVolunteer for Prairie Workdays

Activities include removal of invasive species, seed collection, and seeding native prairie plants. Click the button below to open the volunteer signup form hosted on Formstack. Your participation helps maintain and study this valuable habitat.

Sign Up for Volunteer Workdays

Or email directly: Ginger McHugh-Kurtz

Active Prairie Projects

The Prairie Pollinator Grant is an internal grant-funded, five-year project to increase pollinators on our college campus. The objectives of the project are as follows:

  • Create and maintain habitats that are beneficial to monarchs, bees, and other pollinators.
  • Monitor and collect data on pollinator visits with the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network.
  • Support Harper College’s designation as a Monarch Waystation.
  • Communicate research to the Harper College community and surrounding areas.
  • Increase community awareness regarding the role of pollinators, pollinator health, impact of pesticides, and impact of local human behaviors on species and ecosystems.

View our Monarch Migration Story Map - https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e408bfc928394c3e8ca99b244f8cf056

The Harper College Biology Department, in partnership with the Geography Department, has adopted drone technology and ArcGIS applications to restore the Craig Stettner Prairie on the college’s campus. Habitat restoration efforts are increasingly implementing GIS (Geographic Information System) applications to enhance monitoring and management.

Drones equipped with high-resolution visible light cameras and multispectral sensors offer detailed insights into vegetation health, mapping species distribution, identifying invasive species, and tracking restoration progress. The ArcGIS application Field Maps further enhances this process by providing detailed assessments and visualization of data through the ArcGIS dashboard.

The GIS data is combined with the traditional ecological assessments, the Floristic Quality Index (FQI) and Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA), to facilitate informed and effective monitoring of the prairie restoration project. This integration ensures that project goals are met, human impacts are minimized, and long-term health of the prairie ecosystem is supported.