A story by Connie O'Connor and Bob Buring. This article is also featured in the February 3, 2023, issue of The Ripple.

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Sheila Cox-Riley has a strong personal interest both in astronomy and amphibians.  She lives near East Fork State Park, where she enjoys dark night skies through her telescope and wet spring walks to look for salamanders.  When Sheila saw that human activities were threatening what she loved, she took action as a neighbor and citizen of her community.

Amphibian Crossing

Sheila is a naturalist at heart and also by profession – she works for Cincinnati Nature Center. So, it’s no surprise that she visits East Fork State Park every spring on wet dark nights to look for salamanders.   These amphibians make their annual trip from the forest to nearby ponds and wet areas to breed and lay eggs.  On one route she discovered that salamanders and frogs crossing the road had been hit by passing traffic heading to a boat launch and horse camp within the park.

Initially, Sheila could find no one in the park to talk to about her concerns, but she persisted until she found a sympathetic ear.  The Army Corp of Engineers, together with the park manager, agreed to install a gate to close the road at night during the amphibians’ mating season.

Sheila says, “I wasn’t obnoxious or anything … but I wasn’t going to give up.  I just kept talking to people and asking questions until I found the ones who could help, and I showed them what I was seeing and why it mattered.”

Dark Skies

When Sheila learned about the construction of a new manufacturing complex near the park, one of the first things she thought was, “Oh no, there goes the stargazing!” Concerned about light pollution, she attended a local township trustee meeting.  She informed the trustees that bright outside lights were detrimental to many plants and animals.  In addition, she pointed out that using downward-directed lighting would save them money.  She was successful. Sheila is modest about her efforts. She says, “I spoke as a concerned neighbor and these trustees live here too.  It was a respectful conversation and they could see I was really concerned and also willing to give them a lot of information they didn’t know. I informed them about how they could have lighting without shadows by turning the lights downwards – shadows are bad for safety because people can hide in shadows, so I was speaking to them about things that mattered to them at the same time.”

At home, Sheila convinced her neighbors to decrease the intensity of their outside lighting. Sheila has also volunteered for Living Lands & Waters, the Annual Ohio River Sweep, and the East Fork Cleanup to pick up litter and trash. Her approach is to be of service to her community and to teach others about conservation and stewardship in a non-confrontational manner. Her advice to others is, “Don’t be mean, but don’t give up!”