Here at the Urban Ecology Center, we love to celebrate different events, activities and programs offered throughout the year. Back in November, we hosted our first ever Bluegrass Pie Swap, where attendees made and brought two pies: one to share and sample with the group, and one to swap with someone else to take home and enjoy. Not only were we excited about this program, but the attendees seemed to have a blast as well. One attendee, Shan, is a pie-enthusiast who recently wrote a guest blog that reflects on his experience at this program. Shan brought sweet potato pecan pie, which was voted fan favorite at the event! Read on to hear how Shan enjoyed this event due to the pie-loving sense of camaraderie, and enjoy Shan's very own pie recipe!

Hi, it’s me, Ken! I’m thinking about what to give to the special people in my life during this giving season. Should I give them an Urban Ecology Center gift membership? A Center t-shirt? Or maybe a day outdoors in the snow? Hmm, perhaps I should ask around. "What does the fox say?"

While going on a camping trip can become second nature after a few times out, the first encounter with all those tent poles, vacant fire pit, and the expectant eyes of your children can be a bit daunting. Well, be daunted no more! The Urban Ecology Center is offering our Family Camping Trip - an overnight camping trip at the beautiful Blue Heron Wild Life Sanctuary in Saukville, less than an hour north of the city. Come with questions, leave with confidence in your own camping skills, and have a fantastically memorable time with your family in between!

It seems like a simple task: start a fire, and boil a cup of water. Turns out it’s not so easy when all you have is a paper cup and three matches. During last year’s Teen Survival Challenge, I watched twenty different teams accomplish this task twenty different ways, and each of those ways gave me unique insight into the different ways teams work together and think through problems.

Five years ago, the Urban Ecology Center, the Menomonee Valley Partners, and Layton Boulevard West Neighbors gathered several groups of folks who live and work near the Menomonee Valley and shared with them a crazy idea — converting an old rail yard into a park. They asked the group: “what would you like to see in this park?” They received a lot of answers, but one thing that came up again and again was a desire for space to grow food. The neighborhood just south of the Menomonee Valley is the most densely populated area in the state, which means lots of people and little space for gardening.

As the days get shorter and the acorn squash fatter, the rivers of our city will soon be awash in streaks of yellows, oranges, and reds. But if there’s one thing that won’t be waning (at least for me), it’s the itch to be out and active along Milwaukee’s waterways. Do you find yourself in the, ahem, same boat? Then let’s give the Milwaukee River some much deserved autumnal love with the Urban Ecology Center’s Fall Paddling Series!

Our Menomonee Valley branch is one year old – time to celebrate! Join us on Saturday, September 7th as we take a look back at our past year and explore Three Bridges Park!

It's been a busy and exciting first year that included school programs, summer camps and the opening of Milwaukee's newest park! We thought it be fun to take a look at our past year and share some of our favorite memories. Check back as we will be updating this page until Saturday's celebration!

Before we launch into detail about our Summer Paddling Series, a word on perspective:

“Successful education has the power to make the world strange again. Without any stake in the places where we live, we walk through days in which there are trees but no tree in particular, we drive along roads that could be anywhere, never registering the mountains to the east and lake to the west that determined, in fact, exactly where that route would run. Such casual familiarity is the opposite of intimacy and attentiveness.”

- environmental studies professor John Elder

What good is an idea if it resides only in the isolation of one mind? Ideas that are shared and nurtured are those ideas that grow, become contagious, and bring about change. I believe that all ideas are valuable, even the ones that seem crazy at first. Diversity is essential for healthy, thriving, natural systems. Heterogeneity, not homogeneity, of ideas breeds innovation.

Having started my new position as the Visitor Services Assistant in November, I have been fortunate to observe the daily branch activities here in Washington Park. My conclusion... The Washington Park Urban Ecology Center fills me with happiness each day! There are so many things that fill me with joy, and I certainly had a huge smile on my face when I was asked to write this article. But nothing prompts a smile faster than the smile of another person. It’s contagious. Just ask my friends and co-workers at the Urban Ecology Center; they will confirm that I keep a smile on my face all the time. There are so many people to thank for this: members, volunteers, visitors, staff and donors; they all play a role in making Washington Park, a wonderful place to be.