Olentangy River Wetland Research Park

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Olentangy River Wetland Research Park A unique, urban facility at tOSU established in 1993 within CFAES and managed by SENR The grounds are open to the public daily from dawn to dusk.

The Schiermeier Wetlands is the home of the School of Environment and Natural Resources’ aquatics program and a gateway to research, teaching and outreach related to water resources at the university. The Schiermeier Wetlands pursue basic and applied research at multiple levels of ecological organization, from microbes to ecosystems to landscapes. The Schiermeier Wetlands also provides training for undergraduate and graduate students and service to the community through environmental outreach and extension. Through these activities, the Schiermeier Wetlands plays an essential role in developing science-based solutions to critical issues in water resource management, restoration and conservation. The 52-acre urban research site is situated adjacent to the Olentangy River and consists of two experimental wetland basins, an oxbow wetland, bottomland hardwood forest and a mesocosm compound. The Heffner Teaching and Research Building located on the site includes analytical and teaching laboratories, a wet laboratory, flexible classrooms, offices and meeting spaces. Our experimental wetlands can be viewed from the Sandefur Observation Pavillion which is open to the public. Additional viewing opportunities of the natural areas are available along the Olentangy Greenways Trail and paved paths throughout the site.

Happy Homecoming, Buckeyes! 🌰To celebrate, here's a little throwback to the early days of the ORW. Did you know that a l...
10/10/2026

Happy Homecoming, Buckeyes! 🌰

To celebrate, here's a little throwback to the early days of the ORW.
Did you know that a lot of the work done during development of the ORW under Dr. Bill Mitsch was completed by students who are now alumni of the University?
The work completed by students (and other volunteers!) ranged from cleaning up areas ahead of and during construction, planting native species in the experimental wetlands, and even constructing the boardwalks that still stand today!

Photo 1: Brutus visiting the ORW during an event, ~ 1999
Photo 2: Students cleaning up around the park, 1994
Photo 3: Students constructing the boardwalks of Wetland 2, 1996
Photo 4: Students outside of the gates near the experimental wetlands, year unknown
Photo 5: Students, and other volunteers, planting Wetland 1, ~1993/1994
Photo 6: A group photo of the team at the ORW, ~1997

Literally how it feels to manage invasive species as your job——
10/09/2026

Literally how it feels to manage invasive species as your job

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We wanted to extend a warm congratulations to Allison Williams, Ningzhu Bai, Afsoon Sabet, and Risa Pesapane for their r...
10/08/2026

We wanted to extend a warm congratulations to Allison Williams, Ningzhu Bai, Afsoon Sabet, and Risa Pesapane for their recent publication in The Journal of Medical Entomology! Their work focused on tick survivability in wetlands that experience seasonal flooding events.Their research was also funded through the Paul F. and Rhonda H. Sipp Wetland Student Research Fund, which awards student-led research projects at the Olentangy River Wetlands.

Thank you for allowing us to showcase another awesome example of research being conducted at our park!

Come see for yourself what makes the ORW so special! (And watch out for ticks 😉)

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10/06/2026

Boy do I love keeping our local ecosystems clean and healthy!

Follow The Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park for more!

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Thank you to everybody who joined us Tuesday evening for our first happy hour and collaboration with Understory! Thank y...
10/01/2026

Thank you to everybody who joined us Tuesday evening for our first happy hour and collaboration with Understory! Thank you as well to recent OSU graduate AJ Sweigert for leading the tour and providing us all with some of your tree expertise!

If you missed this opportunity or want to learn more about trees, don’t worry! We are hosting another tree walk this weekend! Join us 10:00am-12:00pm on Sunday, Oct. 4th, by signing up at the link below!
http://go.osu.edu/treewalk

Also, keep a lookout on our instagram The Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park for more happy hour collaborations with Understory!

09/28/2026

Hope to see you at the wetlands tomorrow, Sep. 29th or this Sunday, Oct. 4th for a tree walk around the Olentangy River Wetlands! Learn all about tree diversity and how trees have adapted to survive and thrive in wetlands environments!

Don’t miss out! Sign up here at:
http://go.osu.edu/orwunderstory For Tuesday’s walk
Or
http://go.osu.edu/treewalk For Sunday’s walk

Thank you to everyone who decided to join us for an especially rainy mushroom walk! The fall mushrooms are in full swing...
09/25/2026

Thank you to everyone who decided to join us for an especially rainy mushroom walk! The fall mushrooms are in full swing and it was so fun to be able to share them with everyone who attended. If you’re interested in attending events like this in the future, follow us The Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park ! This is where we announce all of our upcoming events at the park!

BUGS ARE AWESOME! END. OF. STORY. We wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who came for our insect night sheeting ev...
09/16/2026

BUGS ARE AWESOME! END. OF. STORY. We wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who came for our insect night sheeting event last Friday. What an awesome example of how wetlands habitat can create areas of increased biodiversity. Thanks again to Dr. Klinger for providing the materials and expertise to make this event truly memorable. Here’s some pics from the event for everyone to enjoy!

What’s your favorite bug?

Follow The Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park for more!

A big thank you to everyone who joined us for the SENR Open House at the Olentangy River Wetlands! It was great to see s...
09/14/2026

A big thank you to everyone who joined us for the SENR Open House at the Olentangy River Wetlands! It was great to see so many students learning about opportunities available both in and out of the field. Thank you to our professors and our SENR organizations (both student and professional led) as well for sharing ways to become more involved as a student!

If you want to get involved with events at the wetlands follow us The Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park or click this link to sign up for our next event at go.osu.edu/orwspore

Do you enjoy nocturnal insects and want to learn more about them? Are you looking for a chance to explore the Wetlands a...
09/08/2026

Do you enjoy nocturnal insects and want to learn more about them? Are you looking for a chance to explore the Wetlands at night?

Then join us THIS FRIDAY* for an insect night sheeting event! 🌙🪲
This event will take place from 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM, and you can join us for all or part of the night to search for, identify, and learn about nocturnal insects at the ORW.

Sign up now by visiting go.osu.edu/orwinsects

*Rain date: Friday, September 18th 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM

Address

352 W Dodridge Street
Columbus, OH
43202

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+16142929774

Website

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