You know that feeling you get when you walk into an Urban Ecology Center branch? The feeling that you are somewhere special? The first time I felt that feeling was 12 years ago when walked into the Urban Ecology Center in Washington Park. The branch had just opened, and I was there to help plan the first Winterfest.

The Urban Ecology Center is an environmental community center with the mission to connect people in cities to nature and each other. Our members are a key component of this mission and an example that everyone can join together in this endeavor. With your help, we connect kids to local green spaces through school partnerships, to environmental science through internships, and to sustainable learning opportunities. This valued support also allows us to protect and enhance public green spaces to make them safe, accessible and vibrant for everyone. In addition to contributing support to our mission, Besides giving to us, members receive unique benefits that help them to be an active, engaged, healthy and eco-conscious member of our community.

Environmental: the air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other external factors surrounding and affecting a given organism at any time.

Community: an assemblage of interacting populations occupying a given area

Center: a building used as a meeting place for a particular group or having facilities for certain activities

When I first started working at the Urban Ecology Center, I had only been in the United States for a year or so. I was still struggling with a lot of stuff: language, friends, work, and what the heck I was going make of myself in this new place. The UEC was my beginning. It was where I began to find myself, my passions, and my place. 

 “Think globally, act locally.” Although she didn’t come up with this slogan herself, Carol Brill tries to live her life by this guiding motto. By getting involved with local organizations in her community, Carol recognizes that her work and actions will make a far-reaching impact.

This principle is what steered her to becoming a volunteer at the Urban Ecology Center where she can now be found operating the Riverside Park reception desk every Friday afternoon.

HKE MKE registration is now open! Join us on Sunday, September 17th for the Urban Ecology Center’s 3rd annual HKE MKE. Enjoy a beautiful 2.5 mile family-friendly hike through the Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum and along the Milwaukee River. Funds raised by participants help to preserve amazing urban natural areas and support the Center's mission of connecting people to nature.

On May 6th, 2017, brothers Zion Singh Ponder (4 years old) and Zephaniah Singh Ponder (8 years old) hosted the Epic World Dance Party. This was their second year doing the Epic World Dance Party in partnership with the Urban Ecology Center. The boys invited dancers from around the city to teach mini dancing lessons during the party. This year, Mari Otero from Salsabrosa Dance Company taught Salsa and Bachata. Gabi Sustache from Danceworks Milwaukee taught Modern Dancing.

Earth Day is nearly upon us. Each year we pause on April 22nd to think about ecology, climate change, preservation—survival. This past year, people the world over have come together around the protection of our waters, taking up the chant "Water is Life."   Now as we think about the health of our planet, I invite you to consider the way we "story" water, the earth, the sky, and all the natural beings in the universe. In The Truth About Stories Indigenous writer Tom King asks, "Do the stories we tell reflect the world as it truly is, or did we simply start off with the wrong story?"

April 22nd is Earth Day, celebrated around the world as a day to protect, steward and learn about the earth. Here at the Center we're inviting everyone to help celebrate with our Earth Day of Service, a morning of pitching in with friends and neighbors at each of our three branches to show some love to our little corner of the planet - come join us!

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.