What do Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin and our summer interns have in common? They are CommunityScientists! A Community Scientist is someone who engages in the research process in a non-academic setting. People are often surprised to learn that anyone can participate in our research projects, regardless of their age, background or previous experience. All you need is a passion for the natural environment. Community Science volunteers at the Center work with bats, birds, bugs, frogs and toads, small mammals, snakes, turtles, insects, plants and more!

From the Ground Up is an effort to improve job accessibility, science education, environmental and public health, and neighborhood vitality in the Menomonee Valley. It is a story of partnership, creative solutions, and profound impact.

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.

We are thrilled to announce that on Saturday, July 20th, Three Bridges Park will open in the Menomonee Valley! I can't wait to help you explore this 24-acre brownfield-turned-greenspace!

This park marks the fourth and final piece in the "From the Ground Up" campaign, a joint effort of the Center, the Menomonee Valley Partners, the City of Milwaukee, the State of Wisconsin and many corporate and individual donors to revitalize the Valley and reconnect it to surrounding communities. As the land is healed, the community can become more vibrant.

By now, I think most of you know that the Urban Ecology Center now has a branch in the Menomonee Valley! What you may or may not know is that Menomonee Valley branch is just one piece of a larger project, called “From the Ground Up,” which is a combined effort the Urban Ecology Center, the Menomonee Valley Partners, the City , the State, and many others. This summer, we are putting into motion the final piece in the From the Ground Up project: on July 20th (save the date!) we are opening at brand new 24 acre park, next to the Center on a former brownfield site.

I cannot WAIT for summer in the Menomonee Valley!  Twittering birds, fish splashing in the river, beautiful blossoming prairie plants, and for the first time ever…Urban Ecology Center summer campers!  Do you have any children in your life?  There is a whole world of wonder here waiting for kiddos to come enjoy it—all you need to do is sign them up!

There are endless reasons why I think summer camp in the Menomonee Valley is an amazing opportunity for kids, but here are my top 3:

If you walk into the Menomonee Valley branch on a Wednesday evening, you might think you’ve stumbled upon a party — resonant beats and fast moving lyrics emanate from the Valley Room, along with the sound of voices and moving feet. But what’s going on is more than a party: it’s a hip-hop class that teaches movement, confidence and teamwork. The class is being offered free of charge at the Center through a partnership with Above the Clouds, a non-profit, faith-based creative arts program dedicated to bringing art experiences to children in marginalized communities in Milwaukee.

This past March both our Menomonee Valley and Washington Park branches were nominated as finalists for a MANDI Award! WOW!

Fantastic! Wait, what’s a MANDI?
The Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation (MANDI) recognize efforts of those working to ensure Milwaukee’s central city is a great place to live, learn, work and grow.

It’s not often you have the chance to name a 24-acre park in your city. But for the next week, you have exactly that chance!

The Urban Ecology Center is tremendously excited to be collaborating with Menomonee Valley Partners, the City of Milwaukee, the State of Wisconsin, and a number of other partners to open a new park the Menomonee Valley on Saturday, July 20. 

I am not a parent, so I can’t claim to know what the highs and lows of parenthood might be, but I imagine one of the most incredible experiences must be to witness the transition from not being into being: to have in your life, all of a sudden, a wonderful living thing that wasn’t there at all before.

I got to experience that a little bit the other day at the Menomonee Valley branch.