On October 12, 2025, Bernheim Forest and Arboretum installed a new Chronolog station along the bridge that crosses the cypress-tupelo swamp on the Lake Nevin Loop. This site offers a window into one of Bernheim’s most dynamic ecosystems, where visitors can spot signs of beavers, basking turtles, wading birds, and the slow, steady pulse of a living wetland.
This innovative storytelling and restoration project supports Bernheim’s Louisville Water Foundation grant goals by connecting beaver wetland restoration with public education and community stewardship. It’s a hands-on way to link art, science, and citizen engagement in support of healthier streams and watersheds.
Connecting People and Nature Through Time
According to Chronolog, “Our mission is twofold: to engage people with nature in an interactive way and to document phenological change for scientific use. By making environmental conservation a collaborative activity, people become both participants and stewards of the environment.”
Through this partnership, visitors and students can observe how beavers, nature’s engineers, reshape the land and water around them. Their work expands wetlands, slows and filters runoff, and invites an incredible diversity of life, from amphibians and fish to herons and even bald eagles.
It’s already exciting to see how many images have been uploaded in such a short time. Fall is an especially captivating season to watch the time-lapse videos. The changing leaves, shifting water levels, and play of light across the swamp reveal the wetland’s ongoing transformation.
Help Tell the Wetland’s Story
Each image captured contributes to a larger story about the health and resilience of our forest’s waterways. Next time you visit Bernheim, pause at the bridge, follow the simple instructions on the Chronolog sign, and take a photo to upload!
You can also view all of the photos online on our Chronolog page, where Bernheim and visitors alike can track changes in real time. We’re thrilled to see how this project grows and how your photos help us better understand and protect the natural processes that make Bernheim thrive.
1 https://www.chronolog.io/about-us
