For Greene County News

YELLOW SPRINGS – Five faculty members from the Wright State University Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program will lead a public hike through Glen Helen Nature Preserve Friday, June 26.

During Glen Helen’s “Water, Earth, Biota: Ask a Naturalist Hike,” participants will discover the uniqueness of Glen’s biosphere and hydrosphere while exploring human impacts on the ecosystem amidst the summer scenery. This hike begins 7 p.m. at the Trailside Museum. With the changing climate, the event was called to bring public awareness and scientific research to the nature preserve.

Leaders of the hike include biologist Don Cipollini; entomologist John Stireman; Rebecca Teed, expert in paleoclimatology; Allen Hunt, physicist and former program director at the National Science Foundation; and Audrey McGowin, whose research includes assessments of the groundwater quality within Glen Helen Nature Preserve. The hike will focus on crossing the disciplines between different factions that make up the Glen biome and understand the interfaces between root and soil, leaf and atmosphere, soil and air.