Campus natural areas are integral to students’ learning and stewardship opportunities.

This is especially true of the western half that includes a section of Crooked Creek. Students participate in pulling invasive honeysuckle saplings, monitoring the condition of newly planted trees, building and maintaining trails, and noting changes in habitat and wildlife activity.

K-12 students visiting the Marian University EcoLab also visit the Cold Spring campus to view and study our riparian and floodplain woodlands.