Donald Hey, a 1963 graduate in civil engineering, is passionate about proving the economic efficiency and sustainability of using restored wetlands for water quality management and flood control. Hey, an executive director and co-founder for Wetlands Research Inc. based in Wadsworth, Illinois, focuses his research on river and wetland restoration throughout the Mississippi River Basin. Hey also works to develop low-cost management programs in order to sustain natural aquatic ecosystems.

Over the past 200 years, the loss of more than 70 million acres of wetlands in the Mississippi River Basin caused poor water quality, increased water pollution and flood damage and reduced wildlife habitat and biodiversity, Hey says. 

Share This Story

Spark a Memory?

Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).

Kaitlyn Loucks and Jacob Bellomy

Kaitlyn Loucks and Jacob Bellomy

Kaitlyn Loucks and Jacob Bellomy met each other at a fraternity party while she was home from co-op one weekend…

Alumni leading the telecommunications industry

Alumni leading the telecommunications industry

Roy Wilkens, EE’66, and Mario A. Padilla, MetE’60, worked for years to challenge and change the status of the telecommunications…

Leading Peru’s higher education

Leading Peru’s higher education

After earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from S&T in 1980, Mariana Rodriguez returned to her native Peru to…

Surveying the future of mining

Surveying the future of mining

Karl F. Hasselmann, who graduated in 1925 with a degree in mining engineering, was oil prospecting in Europe when he…

Jenna (Freese) and Aaron Wundrack

Jenna (Freese) and Aaron Wundrack

Jenna (Freese) and Aaron Wundrack met in the mining engineering department in 2013, where they were both pursuing bachelor’s degrees…

EV pioneer

EV pioneer

As the auto industry begins to fully embrace the notion of electric vehicles, it has EV pioneers like Jon Bereisa…