Animal ambassador conservationists: Ada Hayden

Ada Hayden in a field

One of the Dickinson County Nature Center red-eared sliders is named Ada, after Iowa conservationist Ada Hayden. Ada Hayden was born in 1884 in Ames, and she became an important conservationist early on through her botany mentor Louis Pammel. She studied botany at Iowa State College, now Iowa State University, and graduated in 1908. She Read More »

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Animal ambassador conservationists: Sylvan Runkel

Sketch of Sylvan Runkel

The name of the two salamanders that live at the Dickinson County Nature Center are Sy and Manny. Manny’s name wasn’t very creative, to be honest. It comes from sala”man”der. Sy’s name, however, is in honor of famed Iowa conservationist Sylvan Runkel. Runkel was born in 1906 in Jacksonville, IL, and he graduated from Iowa Read More »

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