A Note From the Director

Well, 2024 comes to an end, and what a year it has been! In my first full year as Director of the EIC, several things are obvious:

1.The EIC is full of winners: From students recognized as Difference Makers and Honor Scholars to regional and national award winning interpreters, the EIC staff and student staff are simply the best of the best!

Zach Pousak

Zach Pousak helped us digitize decades of herbarium (plant) specimens over the summer of 2023. In addition to this project, Zach shared his talents across campus in several disciplines. (Zach, pictured with his "smart rain barrels.")

Sasha Kindred

Sasha Kindred has contributed to our partner programs, such as the EIC's mental health walks and at the EIC's Community Organic Garden. Her most notable internship experience has been as a sustainable well-being intern for UM-Dearborn’s Planet Blue Ambassador program, a position she pursued due to her interest in exploring the connection between mental health and caring for the environment. Read more about this exceptional student and her future plans.

Our Own Valerie Osowski!

This name must be familiar to our readers, since Valerie is part of our student staff and writes our Greenways column. She is the Cooper Family Sustainability Intern, co-coordinator of the Community Organic Garden, co-coordinator our the EIC Young Naturalist Programs, and former president of the Student Sustainability Coalition, associated with Planet Blue. Valerie is graduating with Distinction. These are just some of the reasons Valerie received the Environmental Science Honors Award! Here she is with her composting creation, "Greenie," who composts leftovers from school program lunches! (Photo by the Editor)

As a naturalist, my initial thoughts when encountering a moth larva would typically have to do with its life history, including the species, ecology, and other science-oriented speculation—but no. 

What did I ask myself right away? You guessed it: "Does the 'sweater' of rusty bristles on the woolly bear’s midsection, set off by jet black bristles front and back, forecast a long or short winter?" To me, the sweater seemed quite robust, indicating that, by woolly bear measure, we were in for a long winter. (Photo by Whitney Cranshaw; Colorado State University; Bugwood org)

There was a catch, of course. Clad in a light coat of my own, as I had been during most of these oddly warm late fall/early winter days, it occurred to me that if this winter is truly to be a long one, it had better get going. 

Switching from thoughts of folklore to science, I was pleased to know that I was looking at the larva of the Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella), pictured right. I was happy that this native moth species was finding a home in the adjacent rain garden habitat just outside the EIC. I also reminded myself that I was looking at one of the few caterpillars that, unlike most moth species, actually spends the winter in its larval form. (Photo by Emilio Concari)

A Cup'o Cheer for the Birds!

Right now, many of us are shopping for holiday gifts and looking for ways to warm up during the colder months. For all the coffee drinkers, purchasing a bag (or a few) of bird-friendly coffee is a great way to stay warm and awake in a more sustainable way this season!

Many migratory bird species travel south for the winter to warmer countries that are often major producers of coffee. For example, the Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) is an easily recognizable bird that comes to Michigan and much of eastern North America during the spring to breed, but will stay in warmer climates during the winter. (Photo by Jim Simek)

Typically, coffee farms clear large swaths of land to make space to farm and provide plenty of sunlight for the coffee plants, which results in habitat loss for migratory birds. Most of these farms will also use chemical pesticides, which kill the insects that are an essential food source for birds. 

On this farm near Andes in Antioquia, Colombia, coffee trees grow beneath a layer of canopy trees in a shade-grown coffee plantation. (Photograph by Guillermo Santos)

For species like the Baltimore Oriole, habitat loss and lack of food are two of the most severe threats to their survival. Meanwhile, farms that produce bird-friendly coffee will grow coffee in the shade of native forests and do not use harmful pesticides, giving birds a much-needed healthy and diverse habitat to live in during the winter.

The staff at the Environmental Interpretive Center personally enjoy drinking bird-friendly coffee from Birds and Beans, which has a wide variety of roasts and flavors available on their website. However, you can check if other coffees are bird-friendly by looking for the Smithsonian Bird-Friendly certification on the company website or on the coffee’s packaging. Consider gifting yourself or a loved one some bird-friendly coffee this year. Cheers!

Valerie Osowski

Environmental Interpretive Center Cooper Family Intern