Saying Goodbye to a Good Friend

The Urban Ecology Center is sad to announce the passing of a dear friend, donor and Board of Directors member Richard (Dick) Burke.

When the Center was still working out of a double wide trailer in Riverside Park, Dick was able to envision with us a community center that taught science and nature to disadvantaged urban youth. He energized our building campaign with a substantial lead gift through his Trinity Foundation Fund of The Greater Milwaukee Foundation. He requested no recognition nor naming rights, just that we stay true to our vision. Throughout the years we knew we could count on Dick for his generous support, level head and quiet persistence.

Dick's family have generously requested that people so inclined make a donation to the Urban Ecology Center in lieu of flowers. Click here if you would like to make a donation in honor of this amazing, caring man.

Urban Ecology Center Adds New Members to Board of Directors

The Urban Ecology Center welcomes Frank Cumberbatch, Marc Andraca and Tom Zak as great additions to its Board of Directors.

As a founding member of the Milwaukee Renaissance Academy, set to open in August 2007, Frank Cumberbatch helped create a school whose vision is to give students superior education that will lead to college and professional careers. Frank’s commitment to Milwaukee and dedication to the youth of the city make him an ideal fit to the Center and its mission to provide environmental educational experiences to youth and community members.

As well as founding the Milwaukee Renaissance Academy, Frank owns Trinidad Group, LLC. This consulting company is a business development firm that links clients to opportunities such as environmental and emissions investments. The company has done projects involving renewable energy and energy efficiency. In addition to serving on a number of community boards, he was also a candidate for Mayor of Milwaukee in 2004. He has worked as Senior Assistant to the Mayor for Economic Development.

Marc Andraca is currently a director at Johnson Controls, driving the development of its Building Efficiency Business’ Global Energy & Sustainability Strategy. He has spent over 15 years in the energy services field, with experience working in renewable energy project development, strategy consulting, energy management, technical service marketing and energy efficiency services.

He has been a member of the Urban Ecology Center for three years and is also a board member of Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee. He has lived in Milwaukee for five years, with his wife (former communications director for the Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest) and their two girls.

Tom Zak works in asset-based lending management and strategic planning with Wells Fargo Business Credit. Since 2001, he has served as vice president, senior relationship manager. Tom is a 1987 graduate of the UW Milwaukee and is a certified public accountant.

He has shown strong leadership and community ties by serving as president of the board of directors of the Wisconsin chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He has also been a strong supporter of the Center, helping us to receive significant financial support. Tom’s hobbies include marathon and ultra-marathon running, as well as competing in ironman triathlete events.

Click here for a complete list of our Board of Directors.

Central Park in Milwaukee?

A diverse array of folk from the community might actually pull a small miracle off; creating a 795 acre central park in Milwaukee! For the past eight years, a small group of dedicated volunteers representing business people, land owners, non profit leaders, government officials, teachers and neighbors have been quietly working together toward the common goal of forever preserving and protecting the 5.5 mile natural corridor that borders the Milwaukee River. That this wild green space exists at all is a miracle in its own right considering that for much of the corridor there are no legal protections on the land, no conservation easements, no zoning restrictions nor special designations. Ironically this relatively pristine land exists largely because the Milwaukee River was so abused and polluted that no one wanted to do anything along its banks. One of the best kept secrets in the city is, however, that the river is coming back, thanks largely to the removal of the North Avenue dam in 1997. Where just 15 years ago there were only two or three species of fish which could survive the toxic water, now over 33 different species thrive. For the first time in 50 years beavers have been sighted. Black crowned night herons nest on the banks. Migratory birds abound.

As people discover this natural oasis, a decision needs to be made. Do we preserve this “urban wilderness” for the public trust and develop it as park land for all to enjoy? Or does it get turned over to private interests and become a corridor of condominiums like Commerce Street downtown? We, who are doing this work, believe in the former; however we are far from being anti-development. We know that property located next to park land tends to increase in value. Cities retain businesses and a strong employee base when they have high quality public green space. In this case, what is good for nature is good for business and good for living. It’s a win, win, win.

Want to know more? Visit protectmilwaukeeriver.org.

Largest Solar Panel Array in Wisconsin to
Provide Power to Urban Ecology Center

At a huge 44.4 kilowatts, the solar electric panels now covering the roof at the Urban Ecology Center are the largest such solar installation in the state of Wisconsin. The system consists of 256 Kyocera solar panels mounted directly to the Center’s metal standing-seam roof. The Kyocera panels are expected to produce over 55,000 kilowatt-hours each year.

With an annual savings of over $12,000, a 25 year guarantee, and no moving parts to break … what is not to like,” said Ken Leinbach, Executive Director of Urban Ecology Center. “Not only does our new roof look cool, filled to the max with 256 solar panels, but it feels good to know that if our calculations are correct, we should have little to no electric bill next year or any year there after!

Focus on Energy is the state program which provides incentives to Wisconsin residential and business customers for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects provided much of the funding for the new solar panels.

Results from the operation of the solar electric installation are expected to be dramatic. For instance, electricity produced by the system will help avoid 106,860 lbs (or 53.4 tons) of carbon dioxide (CO2) – a major greenhouse gas linked to global climate change -- from entering the atmosphere each year if the same amount of electricity was generated by fossil fuels. Though Leinbach’s main focus is on conserving the environment, he says he plans to take advantage of a special 22.5 cents per kilowatt-hour “solar buy-back rate” offered by We Energies, which serves more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan. "We will be selling our solar-produced electricity to We Energies who will sell it to other utility customers in their Energy For Tomorrow renewable energy program. At that rate, we will come close to paying no electricity bill netted out over an entire year,” added Leinbach. To learn more about this project, click here for a fact sheet.

November 2006 - At the Urban Ecology Center we try to practice what we preach in terms of living a lifestyle that is good for the earth. We encourage our visitors and staff to bicycle to work; we produce our own electricity with solar power; we are the only commercial building in the state of Wisconsin that uses rainwater to flush our toilets; we make every effort to reduce waste by reusing what we can, recycling what is left and reducing what we put in the garbage.

Our favorite way to reduce waste is by feeding worms all of our plant based food scraps! We have created a wonderful system for this - an easy to build and maintain worm farm for your home basement or garage. Click here for more info...

The Urban Ecology Center Receives $99,000 Grant from the Toyota USA Foundation to Expand its Neighborhood Environmental Education Program

October 2006 - The Urban Ecology Center has been named the recipient of a $99,000 grant from the Toyota USA Foundation. The grant will be used to expand the Neighborhood Environmental Education Project (NEEP), a partnership between the Center and local Milwaukee schools, from 21 to 30 neighborhood schools. The expanded program will help support more than 15,000 school trips to Riverside Park, giving thousands of area students the opportunity to make multiple visits throughout the school year and have ongoing participation in the program each year. Through its environmental themed science learning activities, which are in line with state and national science standards, NEEP aims to improve students’ science learning and respect for the land by fostering responsible behavior toward the environment.

"Toyota is very excited to support the Urban Ecology Center’s Neighborhood Environmental Education Project,” said Patricia Pineda, Group Vice President of Toyota Motor North America. “We’ve always been committed to being a leader in environmental responsibility, and an important part of this is encouraging environmental education. Through real-world, hands-on experiences, the Center’s programs have demonstrated their success in developing new generations of environmental leaders, while also helping students improve their science skill sets.”

A check presentation from the Toyota USA Foundation, the unveiling of a new sculpture series by Wisconsin artist Peter Flanary, and the first climb of a new 40-foot outdoor climbing wall, highlighted the Urban Ecology Center’s Fall Ice Cream Social on October 7, 2006 at Riverside Park.

Bruce Brownlee, Senior Executive Administrator for External Affairs at Toyota Technical Center (TTC), Ann Arbor, Michigan presents a check to Ken Leinbach, Executive Director, and Beth Fetterley, Director of Education, for a three year grant from the Toyota USA Foundation to support the expansion of our school program.

Mayor Barrett welcomes the crowd while kids climb on one of the newly unveiled sculptures in Riverside park created by Peter Flanary.

These strong kids join in the grand opening of our new 40-foot climbing wall generously funded by the Reiman Foundation.

Amazing Visit!

September 2006 - The Center welcomed Mayor Michael Coleman from Columbus, Ohio, and a team of 30 elected officials, parks personnel, business leaders, board members, supporters and staff from the Ohio Audubon Society. The presentation featured Mayor Tom Barrett, Alderman Michael D’Amato, Milwaukee County Parks Director Sue Black, Milwaukee Public Schools Administrator and former Science Curriculum Specialist Mary Staten, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Executive Director Buffy Cheek, Riverside High School student Roger Coleman, O.W. Holmes Elementary School teacher Janet Mayes, UEC Executive Director Ken Leinbach, Lynde Uihlein, and Susie Kasten from the UEC Advisory Council. During the presentation, Mayor Coleman and Mayor Barrett received garden stones made and presented by students from Maryland Avenue Montessori School. The stones will be placed at the Urban Ecology Center and the new Columbus center.