Stories
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We're taking a week off!
In appreciation of the many ways our staff have kept our mission impact going during the pandemic, we are giving all of our staff a paid Wellness Week from January 16th-22nd. That means, with a few exceptions to maintain essential functions and security, all of our staff are taking a well-deserved week off. It takes a lot of coordination to make this happen, but it is worth the effort to give everyone time to step away from their work and take care of themselves.
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20 Highlights from the Backyard in 2020
As another year comes to a close, it is common to look back on the year that was and revisit highlights, memories, and lessons learned. I imagine that whenever we look back, 2020 will always have a giant asterisk next to it. So much about this year was different, thanks largely in part to the pandemic that continues to keep us socially distancing and working virtually as much as possible. It's easy to think of this as an entirely negative experience, and in many cases, correct to do so. But one silver lining that came from this new virtual lifestyle at the UEC was the Urban Ecology Center in my Backyard portal. As the coordinator of this effort, I feel so grateful to have spent my year seeing the many new talents on display from our hard working staff.
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Milwaukee Winter Phenology Challenge and Fall Results
Back in September, the Urban Ecology Center challenged you to help document signs of fall using the free mobile phone app, iNaturalist, to record and submit wildlife and plant sightings to an international dataset. There were almost 400 observations that were submitted spanning 45 different species from September through November! New England Aster was by far the most documented species with 90 observations. Canada Goldenrod and Calico Aster were next two most documented species with the Asian Lady Beetle coming into fourth with 25 observations. Nice job to everyone documenting some sure signs of fall and participating in the Fall Phenology Challenge! Be sure to check out the results of the Fall Phenology Challenge here