Ohio ODNR chief identifies perils of invasive species at Chase Symposium

The emerald ash borer, which is killing off Ohio’s magnificent Ash trees, the insidious Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, the aromatic Garlic Mustard, and the voracious Bighead Carp were a few of the species that briefly took center stage recently when Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, spoke at the annual Edith Chase Symposium.

Mertz described efforts to contain, if not eliminate, invasive species in Ohio that continue to threaten the biodiversity that naturalists believe is important for a healthy environment.  Her presentation, free and open to the public, was held with about 100 in attendance at the glassed-in lecture hall on the ground floor of Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design.  The symposium is sponsored by the Kent Environmental Council and the League of Women Voters.

An attorney who served Ohio as first assistant attorney general before Gov. Mike DeWine named her to oversee the ODNR, Mertz showed a mastery of her subject.  She used videos that showcased some of our state’s nature preserves, the Maumee River and Lake Erie to tell her listeners why fighting invasive species is important.

Bighead carp, which came from East Asia, decimate food sources that other freshwater fish need to live.  Coming up the Mississippi and entering the Ohio River, the carp, Mertz said, have been contained at Louisville, Kentucky, but there are fears that if they advance to the Muskingum River, they could keep going into the Cuyahoga River basin and eventually enter Lake Erie.  Dams, water levees, and even electrical shocks are employed to keep them at bay, she said.

Mertz showed videos of treatments for the Ash and Hemlock trees.  The ODNR and private property owners are employing them to save these trees from destruction. She noted that local groups organize gatherings to go out and pull and dispose of garlic mustard in local parks. It spreads rapidly and can deny other plants the nutrition they need to survive.

Asked about zebra mussels, Mertz said she believes they have been less damaging to the Great Lakes than feared.  She also expressed optimism about containing the invasion into the Great Lakes by sea lampreys which attach themselves to freshwater fish and kill them by devouring their insides.

Dr. Robert Heath, president of the Edith Chase Symposium Association, welcomed everyone and Deborah Barber, president of the League of Women Voters in Kent fielded questions.

Edith Chase, who resided in Kent for more than 50 years, was Franklin Township’s zoning inspector.  Holding a Master of Science in chemistry, she was a founder of the Kent Environmental Council, and chaired the Coastal Resources Advisory Council for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recognized her work with the Waler B. Jones Memorial Award for Coastal Steward of the Year.

Helping Malawi

There are many themes in the lives of Dr. Tom and Ruth Nighswander who relocated to Alaska a half century ago, but one that stands out so clearly is altruism.  They give of themselves and keep on giving.

Graduates of Roosevelt and Kent State, the Nighswanders, like many Americans who came of age in the early 1960s, were inspired by President Kennedy’s appeal to idealism. Upon graduation from KSU, they joined the Peace Corps and were stationed in Malawi, a small sub-Saharan nation in Africa that is one of the world’s poorest countries.

The experience changed their lives.

Tom, who had intended to teach, came back to America determined to become a doctor.  Kent State working with the Case Western Reserve Medical School helped him.  Ruth, who had a master’s degree in education, also went back to school and studied nursing obtaining a bachelor’s degree in the field.

Having completed his MD at Case Western Reserve, Tom joined National Service Corps which took the Nighswanders to Alaska.  Tom worked in the Public Health Service of Alaska, and sought to improve access to healthcare there. Ruth worked with Alaskan schools promoting health interventions including vaccinations.  Tom formed the Telehealth Advisory Commission which morphed into the Alaska Health Network.

They have returned to Malawi periodically helping set up a National Health system for that country as well as Malawi Children’s Village, a health network that serves orphans.  For the last 23 years, they have visited Malawi nearly every year.

In March they returned to Malawi and helped alleviate conditions brought on by a destructive cyclone.

David E. Dix is a retired publisher of the Record-Courier.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ohio ODNR chief identifies perils of invasive species