Name: Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter with Chris Helzer
Start: 2026-04-09T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-09T20:30:00-05:00
Location: Coralville Center for the Performing Arts

Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter with Chris Helzer

Chris Helzer set out to prove that prairies are full of life so he spent a year photographing everything he could find within a small area of prairie in his hometown. Hear and see the incredible diversity of plants and animals he found, the stories that played out in front of him and the peace and wonder he experienced by focusing closely on one place.
Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter with Chris Helzer will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9 at the Coralville Center for the Perfoming Arts. University of Iowa Press will have copies of Chris' books for sale.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, visit: buroaklandtrust.org/events
This event is generously sponsored by Iowa Native Plant Society and the City of Coralville.
About the speaker: Chris Helzer is Director of Science and Stewardship for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska, where he conducts research and supervises the Conservancy’s preserve stewardship program. He also helps develop, test, and share prairie management and restoration strategies. Chris is the author of The Prairie Ecologist blog, and two books: "The Ecology and Management of Prairies" and "Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter." He is also a frequent contributor to NEBRASKAland magazine and other publications. Chris and his family live in Aurora, Nebraska.