Milwaukee Urban Ecology Blog

Nature is the ultimate canvas for inspiration. There are many different organisms with homes across a vast number of ecosystems found on this big rock we call Earth. Each organism and its home is different than the next. Well, for the most part. With this great biodiversity came a slew of colors, shape, size, and purpose in the environment. Every stroll I take outside adds to something I may or may not have seen before.

Summer is here! Perhaps one of the most encouraging and beautiful silver lining unintended benefits of the current pandemic is that a lot more people are spending more time outside. Parks have closed roads to vehicles to encourage more pedestrian traffic, and folks are enjoying social distancing in the beautiful natural spaces our city has to offer. As a result, a lot of community members have been turning their eyes to the Urban Ecology Center. “It’s summer… when can I borrow a kayak?” The answer… soon! The Urban Ecology Center has a plan for the gradual restart of onsite work (GROW- click here to read the full article).

Hello UEC Community, Based on COVID 19 public health indicators and our own internal preparedness, we are entering into a phase of our gradual restarting plan that allows us to offer some additional onsite programming. With rigorous cleaning practices, regular health screening, PPE, and social distancing measures in place, here are the programs we are running or preparing for:

Our Equity, Dignity, and Justice staff group prepared this message on behalf of the Urban Ecology Center: We are heartbroken over the murder of George Floyd, the killing of Joel Acevedo, and the countless others who have been discriminated against, harassed, assaulted, and killed because of the color of their skin. We strive to create a world where people of color are able to live without fear of harassment and violence.

Community Planting Day has been held in the Menomonee Valley since 2008. It’s inaugural planting day was organized by Menomonee Valley Partners to help plant and establish native plant communities within Menomonee Valley Community Park. Which at the time was a newly constructed 6-acre rain garden that was designed to retain stormwater from adjacent businesses and help reduce the volume of stormwater entering Menomonee River.

Back in March, the Urban Ecology Center challenged you all to help document signs of spring in Milwaukee using iNaturalist (free mobile phone app) as a means of documenting and submitting data to an international dataset. There were nearly 400 springtime observations that you all recorded! You all helped identify 32 species which is nearly all of the species we challenged you with spotting. I couple of species that eluded documenting, was the Pasque Flower and the Spring Peeper. Both can be tough to spot! Additionally, we had 84 people submit data that fit within our phenology challenge requirements. Bloodroot had the most number of identifications with 44 people spotting it. 

Can you win BINGO by finding the items on the cards below?  Click on image to find the full, downloadable card.

Environmental Educator Regina Miller finds a lot of cool animals and plants in her backyard and nearby areas. Here are her recent cool finds. Check back here for more cool finds and check out urbanecologycenter.org/backyard for more discoveries from our staff (including a three-part video series by Regina)!

Hello UEC Community, With summer quickly approaching, we are preparing for a safe and fun season. In addition to the virtual programming we have been offering through the Urban Ecology Center In My Backyard, we will slowly begin meeting other needs of our community through safe and careful on-site programming.

Thank you for your patience as we work to navigate the changing landscape of COVID-19 and social distancing policies. After lots of careful consideration and planning, we have decided that we will be offering limited summer camps starting mid-June. Read on for a little background on why we’ve decided to offer in-person camps and what we’re planning. Haga clic aquí para encontrar esta información en español.