MARTELL, NEB. - In the middle of a maze of southeast Nebraska dirt roads, sits an 80-acre haven of woodlands and prairie, used for both research and education. 

Since 2019, students and professors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have been working to restore Reller Prairie in the Martell area of rural Lancaster County. Michael Herman, Director of Biological Sciences at UNL, is one of several individuals spearheading the project.

“We’re doing a number of projects to figure out how we want to manage the land, to restore it to a native prairie,” Herman said. “To maintain the woodlands the way they area and we want to be sure that we maintain, and preserve, what’s hear for studies in biological sciences.”

Since work at Reller began in 2019, scientists at UNL have since been given grants to do work on bird behavior in Reller and are studying spider activity in the area as well. One of the biggest tasks was to fix the building, which is now used as an information hub.

Associate Professor of Anthropology William Belcher explained the transformation from disarray to complete makeover.


“This is a classroom now, Before it was full of mice, rodent droppings, hornets and old rotting furniture,” Belcher said. “Now it’s a fully functional class room… It’s now a fully functional store room for doing the archaeology of the area, doing training with Nebraska State Patrol, it’s night and day.”

The site is also one for archaeology, as students learn the tactics and tools of the study. Professor Luanne Wandsnider says Reller Prairie is a unique spot in the region as it has things uncommon to the rest of Nebraska.

“We have preserved here some sediments that contain artifacts from 3,000-4,000 years ago,” Wansnider said. “Elsewhere in Nebraska those would have been washed away, so that gives us an idea what people were doing out here 3,000-4,000 years ago, but also up through more recent times.”

Belcher says the prairie provides valuable hands on learning for students, in a rural area, but just 20 minutes from campus.

“For studying biology, archaeology, decomposition and forensics, it’s essential,” Belcher said. “We can sit everybody in a classroom and do all these things, but we need this experiential and hands-on learning.”

A year from now, as work at Reller continues to evolve, Herman says he hopes more grants get distributed, but also is hoping for more classes and continued work at restoring and preserving the land.

“We’re looking to have partnerships with groups of interest who may be able to fund some of the activities in restoring the land,” Herman said. “In a year, we hope to have more research programs out here, more regular courses, and we’ll take it from there.”