IN Nature — The Beginning

The path to Ecometrid began with the establishment of Indiana Nature LLC. in 2016. As long-time environmental advocates, industry professionals, and conservation organization volunteers, we recognize that numerous obstacles contribute to an ecologically challenged society.

The repercussions for ecological illiteracy are substantial. Seldom part of the primary or secondary school curriculum, most students reach adulthood with little knowledge of the workings or importance of healthy ecosystems. As a result, aside from acute catastrophes such as toxic waste spills or the threat of extinction to charismatic species, ecosystem health is rarely a prominent media story or a political campaign issue. In many cases, even the sustainability field overlooks the critical importance of biological and genetic diversity.

We sought to combat this illiteracy through community involvement and education. Our first venture was creating the IN Nature Facebook group, which encourages Hoosiers from all parts of the state and beyond to learn and teach others about the complexities of our regional ecology. In 2018, we launched the indiananature.net website, which serves as a depository for our citizen science projects, infographics, an expanding biological glossary, and more. Since 2017, we have taught botany and ecology for the Indiana Master Naturalist program and led hikes for Shirley Heinze Land Trust, the National Park Service, and others. We’ve presented educational programming throughout Indiana, from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River, and our online presence has since expanded into Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Threads.

Advocacy

As time passed, our value as trusted experts and leaders and our ability to reach and inform people led to calls for increased community support and advocacy. From 2017 to 2023, we worked extensively with the City of South Bend, for whom we coauthored and produced the city’s first comprehensive natural resources management plan and a draft wildlife coexistence plan. We also advocated for creating a native tree trail at South Bend’s Pinhook Park while working with city leaders to safeguard the city’s natural resources against the impacts of external threats and unsound internal management practices. In 2020, we served on the advisory committee for the legendary advocacy group Save the Dunes publication Living in the Dunes: A Homeowner’s Guide to Pollinator Garden Landscaping in Indiana’s Coastal Communities. In 2021, we authored and lobbied for the most comprehensive municipal ban on invasive vegetation, which the South Bend Common Council passed unanimously. In 2022, we amended St. Joseph County’s first-ever rank vegetation ordinance to provide exceptions for native plant, pollinator, and rain gardens. We currently serve on the Lepidoptera Task Force for the international organization Pollinator Partnership, and we are finishing the first in a series of books on Indiana Ecology titled Botanical Time Bombs: A Historical Look at the Accidental and Intentional Introduction of Indiana’s Invasive Plants.

Ecometrid — The Evolution

While working with various entities across Indiana, we became aware of the need for a locally owned and operated business that could provide personalized ecological services to clients overseeing small to midsized projects. Some recurring complaints were that few local or regional choices existed and that the established companies provided inadequate service and customer satisfaction. In addition, many of the projects we saw tended to take cookie-cutter, once-size-fits-all approaches to habitat creation and restoration.


We began Ecometrid out of necessity. Having exhausted local options and with nowhere else to turn, some projects brought to us for advice were on the brink of failure. At this moment, the consultants became the doers, and Ecometrid was born as a division of Indiana Nature LLC.

Philanthropy

Because we recognize that not all worthwhile projects come to us with direction and pathways toward funding, each year, as resources allow, we undertake several philanthropic ventures. Recent initiatives include the restoration of woodlands at the Tipton Community School Corporation in Tipton, Indiana, and the Beacon Resource Center in South Bend, Indiana. We consider giving back to our communities and supporting ecologically meritorious undertakings as core values.