Milwaukee Urban Ecology Blog

Many folk tales, urban legends, and myths have led people to believe just plain inaccurate things about some of our wild creatures. Dragonflies were believed to be the Devil’s helpers by sewing naughty children’s eyes shut while they slept. Bats were believed to get tangled in people’s hair in the dark because of misconceived poor eyesight. And, ravens were thought to be premonitions of death. I’ve heard countless critter myths throughout the years, but one creature in particular continues to surprise me with its maligned status: cue the American Toad.

Malachi Crenshaw, a 10th grader at Rufus King High School, finished teaching his first solo Water Safety Course when I met him at the Washington Park branch. I asked him if he had been nervous about being the only instructor and he said “I was more curious. I’m pretty comfortable with public speaking and I know the content, so I mostly was interested to see how those would come together.” This is exactly the kind of experience we hope to provide to our High School Outdoor Leaders – hands-on work. The High School Outdoor Leader program is one step in our “green career pipeline.”

Even though we are a few months into the school year, I can’t help but reflect on my summer as a camp leader. Think of this as a preview of what your friends and family could look forward to next year. The theme that sticks out most for me and my summer was my lunches. Yep, I said it, lunch. Last year I ate lunch outside at over 20 different places in Milwaukee. I am not talking about your local restaurants. I am talking packing up a lunch and driving, biking, hiking or paddling to our lunch destination.

"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart." - Elizabeth Andrew

Every summer we hire a new batch of interns and every summer we impressed with their ability to teach us new things about the Center. This year we had two Visitor Services Interns whose stories really reminded us of how the simple act of welcoming someone can make a big difference in their life.

The Urban Ecology Center hosted our second annual benefit hike, HKE MKE, on Sunday, September 18 and it was a beautiful day for the 2.5 mile hike! Over 400 people of all ages enjoyed the hike along the Milwaukee River Corridor and the Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum, participating in interactive stops along the way.

Grab your popcorn, because once again the Urban Ecology Center is proud to be a Community Partner on two different Milwaukee Film Festival selections. Read on for a preview of what’s in store this season.

How can you express all that the Urban Ecology Center is to so many people and animals alike? These photos are just a small sample of what you can find at our branches. But there's a thread that goes through all of what we do - life! There's so much life! Look for the phrase “So Much Life” in our communications and use it with your friends. When they ask why you’re a part of the Urban Ecology Center, just say “Because there’s So Much Life!” 

Can a few words ever capture all that the Urban Ecology Center is? Take this real-life experience on the Milwaukee River, for example: Full moon. Summer night. A beaver’s tail slapped. The river glistened in the light. Baby ducklings twittered, their silhouettes lined up behind their mother. Bats skimmed the water and two bull frogs competed with a gaa-rumph mating call. How do you sum up all that? Or how about this memory:

A few weeks ago, I was pulling together some attendance numbers for a report. I sent them over to Jen Hense, our Director of Development, and she sent me back an email that said, "Safe to assume all of these numbers were 'zero' four years ago, huh? :-)" She's right – 4 years ago there literally were zero kids playing in Three Bridges Park because there WAS NO Three Bridges Park!