NEWS
The owl has always been an important part of the landscape of FAU. Students can be seen wearing shirts bearing the image of the bird as they walk through the halls and cheer for the mascot at football games. However, the owls that senior Dan Rowan is rooting for live in the nature preserve on the north side of the Boca campus.
Rowan, part of FAU’s conservation committee, is fighting to protect what’s left of this habitat, which is home to species that are threatened in Florida, like the burrowing owl and gopher tortoise.
The committee works to preserve habitats like this on campus.
“I had no idea about tortoises or owls when we started [our research in the preserve],” said Rowan, a marine biology major. “Someone needed to do something about it.”
This determination led Rowan to try to preserve what is left of the habitat and use it as an educational tool.
“We were thinking we could end up using it as a field classroom and laboratory,” Rowan said.
He is becoming an expert in green building methods. Rowan’s background in biology helps him understand the environment of the preserve.
He has been working with two contractors to try to build what he calls a “field education center” near the preserve. If built, it would be able to serve as a research area for scientists and a learning center for the public.
Although Rowan is adamant about making space for these animals on campus, he makes it clear that his venture is not one out of objection to the construction of Innovation Village, which will be built on the north side of campus and include a football stadium. Rowan would like to see students enjoy the football stadium while still realizing the presence of wildlife on our campus.
“We’re not really trying to protest the stadium,” he said. “This is really the only natural area left on campus.”
Rowan is not alone in his endeavor, though. A professor in the Biology Department, Dr. Evelyn Frazier, has been working alongside Rowan in his attempts to preserve the habitat.
“[The university] wants us there because of our expertise,” said Frazier of her role as the conservation committee’s faculty expert. Frazier, who is also an insect ecologist, oversees the research that students like Rowan have been doing on the habitat itself, mainly on the gopher tortoises. She emphasized that, in addition to the owls, these tortoises are also in danger of having their habitat reduced in size.
Along with Rowan, she acknowledges a conflict of interest between the construction of Innovation Village and preserving the habitat. “Biologists want to preserve everything. The university wants to develop.”
Frazier and Rowan are trying to make the preserve an educational place for the public. Frazier mentioned an event that is being planned by the College of Science. Called BioBlitz, it will be a 24-hour event in which the reserve will be open to the public.
Students in grades K-12 will come during the day, with adult groups staying later into the evening. The point behind this would be to educate the public.
Despite the efforts of Frazier and Rowan, some students feel that more should be done.”We have to recognize that the owls were here before we were,” said Alex Van Mecl, president and founder of Mission Green Student Association.
Van Mecl disagrees with encroaching on the habitat in the name of construction and expansion of the university.
“It doesn’t add up that we’ve taken away so much and given back so little,” he said.
Hoot facts
Here are a few things you may not have
known about the burrowing owl:
- Habitat: Dry, open regions, such as grasslands and prairies
- =Size: The burrowing owl stands 7.5 to 10 inches tall, has a wingspan of 21 to 24 inches, and weighs 4.5 to 9 ounces.
- Diet: Insects and small mammals, in addition to small reptiles and amphibians
- Protection status: The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission classifies the burrowing owl as a “species of special concern.” According to the agency, “This means burrows, owls and their eggs are protected from harassment and/or disturbance by state law.”
[Sources: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (www.myfwc.org) and The Peregrine Fund (www.peregrinefund.org)]