In early April, Upham Woods launched their Earth Stories Exchange program to encourage every one of all ages to combine their science and literary skills. The idea of this program is to have individuals, where ever they may be, to get out into the outdoors and either qualitatively or quantitatively record their observations of anything that they may see. Then, once they have their data (which can be the temperature, the time of day, weather conditions, types of organisms they saw etc.) they coagulate it all together in to a story format. This story can take the shape of an essay, poem, song, video, scientific report, or anything thing else that they can think of; we encourage creativity! Once they have their story created, they email it or mail it to us at Upham, and in returned we respond with comments about their story, along with a story that we at Upham have created.

Overall, we had a positive, active response to the launch of the Earth Stories Exchange Program. We received an amazing Earth Story all the way from San Francisco that described spring phenological changes that were observed while on a bike ride. We also received an incredible Earth Story from a college student that described, in detail, what an apocalyptic scenario would look like if one were hiding out on Upham Woods’ Blackhawk Island. Although very different, these two submissions showed great ingenuity and further showed how easy it is to use your scientific skills and translate your findings into a story format. They were both entertaining to read and we thank the trailhitters who sent them to us!

Over the last two months, I have been working on an exciting new project. We call them quests, and they are interactive site-based educational programs that allow people to explore and learn about Lake Michigan communities from home. They are made possible through funding from the National Sea Grant College Program, which funds research and educational projects based on Coastal environmental issues. These quests use interactive story maps created with ArcGIS to give virtual tours of coastal cities on Lake Michigan and have a common theme of coastal resiliency. Cities on the Lake Michigan coast have many unique assets that make them special places to live and visit. They also require unique conservation projects to assure that these community assets are preserved for future generations.

As participants explore the area on the map they can access multimedia content with information on places of interest and ongoing conservation projects. Participants can also answer questions along the way. Each correct answer gives a clue that leads to a final answer at the end. Once participants have succeeded in their quest they can download a unique certificate for each one.

So far we have five different quests: Ecological restoration in Wisconsin Point, commercial fishing history of Two Rivers, healthy and resilient beaches in Racine, history and culture of the Kenosha coast, and preserving the Kenosha sand dunes in the Chiwaukee state natural area. Each one offers opportunities to explore and learn about what each city has to offer and what is being done to improve coastal resiliency. The quests will be available to anyone by visiting the wisconsin coastal guide website: wisconsincoastalguide.org