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.