Reminder: It’s Prairie Week (and arboretum yarn bomb) and you can help
The Cofrin Center for Biodiversity is continuing its celebration of 20 years of service to the campus with several events on the Cofrin Arboretum Sept. 23-26, 2019. Much of the Arboretum and campus was originally a combination of prairie and oak savanna, a woodland habitat that included some trees and open prairie grasslands. The prairies were cleared for agriculture long before the university was built, but shortly after the university opened, restoration work began to recreate these are celebrating the prairie restoration work of UW-Green Bay faculty, staff and students that started in the early 1970s with the creation of the Keith White Prairie and in early 2000s with the restoration of two oak savanna plots. Work continues with a new oak savanna restoration in the Arboretum Gateway and continued conservation work in older prairie areas.
Thanks for celebrating with the Center for Biodiversity staff:
Monday, Sept. 23, 4 to 5 p.m., join land manager and ecologist Bobbie Webster for an afternoon walk that will take you to visit two of the current restoration areas on campus. Meet at the circle outside of Mary Ann Cofrin Hall and then walk to the Arboretum Gateway area where an old field is being restored to oak savanna. Then walk along the Arboretum trail to the Keith White Prairie to see the improvements being made through additional plantings.
“Amethystus” by alumna Dierdra Stary
Sept. 24 to Oct. 10: Take a stroll and see the Biodiversity Yarn Bomb in the Cofrin Arboretum. A yarn bomb is a form of street art where yarn creations are added to objects in the public environment. We asked local artists to consider biodiversity as the prompt for their work and Art Professor Alison Gates graciously volunteered to curate the exhibit.
Sept. 24, Restoration Workday: Noon to 3 p.m., volunteer with Biodiversity Center students and staff to help improve the Arboretum and Keith White Prairie. Activities will include invasive plant removal and planting native seedlings. Bring work gloves and water with you. Park at the South Circle Drive Arboretum kiosk near the South Nicolet Drive entrance.
Sept. 26: Bird Hike from 8 to 10 a.m. Fall Migration is in full swing and the Cofrin Arboretum is a common stopover location for migrating birds. Experts Erin Giese and Noah Nei from the Green Bay Audubon Student Conservation Chapter will lead the hike on the Arboretum trails. Bring binoculars. Meet inn the parking lot by the soccer fields just north of the S. Circle Drive/Leon Bond Drive intersection. We will hike north of the parking lot along Arboretum trails through marsh, field, pond and forested habitats in hopes of finding a variety of birds.
Click to advance slideshow or view the album on Flickr.
– Photos by Daniel Moore, Marketing and University Communication
