September 2020
Exploring Watershed Education
Resources Webinar
Upham Woods, through the EPA local environmental education grant Nos. 00E02399, sponsored the Exploring Watershed Education Resources webinar organized by the Green Schools Consortium. Along with five other presenters, Upham shared resources and described programs focused on water with 67 educators. Upham Woods prioritized virtual programming to be responsive to the needs of teachers during the pandemic. Staff shared the storytelling and inquiry-based Bringing it Back to Ranger Mac, the 10K Conservation Challenge to encourage direct action, and the Wisconsin Coastal Quests as a virtual field trip resources. Initial response through the chat and Q&A demonstrated that the educators were finding the resources and presentations helpful. Polling during the webinar showed that most participants were K-5 educators and informal educators. A poll at the end proved to us that teachers were looking for a wide variety of resources from one-off programming, whole curricula, and virtual field trips. 
Upham Woods Virtual Birthday Camp
Upham Woods is celebrating the birthdays of Caroline and Elizabeth Upham online this year and everyone was invited! Over the four days the group engaged in some inquiry activities, a bioblitz, met some Upham Woods reptiles, spotted animal signs on a backyard tour, and found some wacky water critters. Isabelle even gave everyone a close up a leech she collected from a nearby pond! During our virtual Scales, Scutes, Skins Ariel showed Aldo the Leopard Gecko, and one camper brought his pet leopard gecko to the session as well! Another camper shared a story about how her class pet gecko lost its tail.

The first day of camp started with welcoming everyone to camp and the history of Caroline and Elizabeth Upham donating the land to the UW—Madison. They also went over the schedule for the week as well as zoom expectations and materials they needed for the activity. Ariel highlighted the DIY (do it yourself) activity of the day: Nature Journaling and talked a little about what to include in nature journals and how it’s connected with the Earth Stories Exchange. Ariel highlighted 2 simple outdoor inquiry activities that campers completed. Some of the campers went outside to make observations and others looked out their windows. Some observations include thick bark on a maple tree, birds flying low, and flowers!

On the last day of the four day camp, the group sang Happy Birthday and other camp songs. We played zoom charades and shared stories from the activities we did together. 
NSF Project Launches!
On Monday August 10th the research team at Upham Woods kicked off a new project. This project, recently funded by the National Science Foundation, is one year in duration and is in collaboration with University of South Carolina Baruch Marine Field Laboratory and University of Georgia Marine Institute. The research teams from all three field stations met to review the goals, deliverables, and timeline of the project. The combined teams will work together to develop a series of virtual field experiences that will be organized as 10 modules that could substitute an in-person undergraduate field course (2-3 credit hours). The modules will include video features of researchers in the field of marine and estuarine ecology and biology, writing prompts, data sets, and other educational components. 
Conservation Corner:
10k Conservation Challenge Update
We've logged 266 hours since June. This brings us to 2,448 which is almost 25% of the way to our goal of 10,000 hours!

Highlights:
  • “I was so excited to see some Indian Pipe coming up while I was pulling Buckthorn and Crown Vetch. It felt like I was making room for something that really should be there. I also found delicious black cap berries. Thanks!” – Monica , buckthorn invasive species pull 
  • Tucker spent 20 hours raising monarch butterflies at his home.

New Construction Update
Our new building continues to progress!

Completed Work
  • First floor framing
  • Second floor framing
  • Roof trusses installed
  • Exterior sheathing installed

Upcoming Work
  • Glue-laminated beam install for lobby and front porch
  • Complete roof deck
  • Connect water line
  • Demolish old admin building
  • Foundation excavations for ADA ramp to dorm and classroom
Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center
N194 County Rd N
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
(608) 254-6461
Stay Connected
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