Past Webcasts

From Litter Box to Land Conservation at Big Rock Valley

(11am CT, 10am MT, 9am PT)

Big Rock Valley is a sprawling, 2,000-acre campus of wetlands, woodlands, restored grasslands, and farmlands in Cassopolis, Michigan, actively managed for natural landscapes and diverse species. The land is also used as a living laboratory for many ecological research projects, including an ongoing 15-year mark-recapture study on the federally threatened Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake. Join us to hear about Big Rock Valley’s various conservation initiatives and how its creators at the Edward Lowe Foundation pursue their environmental stewardship goals through these programs.

Guest

Jarod Reibel

Edward Lowe Foundation

Director of Physical Resources

Edward Lowe, inventor of Kitty Litter, created the Edward Lowe Foundation – a non-profit organization which is located in southwest Michigan with dual missions of championing entrepreneurship and environmental stewardship. Jarod is the foundation’s Director of Physical Resources, where he began as the Conservation Stewardship Land Manager in 2020. He earned a BS in Natural Resources Management and a MS in Biology from Grand Valley State University. His favorite conservation tool is a drip torch, introducing the disturbance of fire back onto the landscape. In his free time, Jarod enjoys recreating in the outdoors, woodworking, and establishing a small homestead with his wife.