Iron Hill Service Learning Field Project

Fall 2006 Results

During this semester students in ENWC 201 Wildlife Conservation and Ecology monitored mammals, trees and birds. Click on each link for more details on our findings, along with photographs!

Field Guides for Common Iron Hill Park Species

Interested in learning more about the wildlife at Iron Hill Park? Click here for information and photographs of some of the park's inhabitants.

Introduction to the Project

During the fall 2006 semester, we began a service learning field project at Iron Hill Park in cooperation with the Delaware Academy of Sciences and New Castle County. There are several goals for this project. First, wildlife conservation and entomology students that are enrolled in ENWC 201 - Wildlife Conservation and Ecology - are given the opportunities to explore the techniques used by wildlife biologists and experience the discipline hands-on during their freshman or sophomore year at the University of Delaware. This project provides students the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural habitat, acquire knowledge of wildlife identification, monitoring and conservation, and gain an understanding of the ecological, economic, social, political, and ethical issues connected with wildlife conservation. In addition to the wildlife content, students master skills useful in other courses (and in life) including: gathering, analyzing, synthesizing and interpreting information, working collaboratively as part of a team and presenting information to a varied audience. Students will complete this course with a solid background to expand upon as they progress to upper level classes, and can begin their studies in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology with a clear understanding of the disciplines.

A second goal of the project is to monitor and inventory the biodiversity of Iron Hill Park. While much is already known about the rich cultural history of the area, there is still much to discover about the park's wild inhabitants. This information is valuable and will be appreciated by visitors to the park, along with the hundreds of school children that visit the park each year

Iron Hill Park Information and Background

Iron Hill Park includes 300 acres of mature hardwoods about 2 miles from the University of Delaware. The land is currently owned by New Castle County, but is leased to the Delaware Academy of Science. The Delaware Academy of Science owns a small piece of the park where the Iron Hill Museum is located. The museum is housed within a one-room school house and highlights some of the cultural and natural history of the park. Efforts are underway to begin to monitor and inventory the area and to expand education programs offered at the park. One addition will be the construction of a new education center that will serve as a meeting place for school children and the general public.

There are four factors that make the park unique among woodlots in New Castle County: 1) it is much older with mature hardwoods that have not be logged in over 100 years, 2) it is the largest patch of contiguous old-growth forest, 3) the lack of disturbance for over a century has protected the park from the exotic and invasive plants present throughout much of the woodlots in the county and, 4) its age and size have also prevented the deer population from growing in excess in the area, preventing the deer from decimating the vegetation, as seen in other areas of the county. While the park will always be present in some form, the efforts by the students to monitor and inventory the wildlife and habitat in the park will assist in supporting the long-term protection of the park and bring an awareness of its unique landscape and value (both ecological and ethical) to the attention of the public. When the public becomes aware of the value of this park and its wild inhabitants, they are more likely to appreciate it!