Chapters in Michigan

“Coalesce: Science and Art Collaborations to Foster Environmental Engagement,”  with Sharon Gill and Jacklyn Brickman

In a challenging environmental landscape, unconventional approaches to engage people in conservation are urgently needed. Our panel of science and art students and professors will share perspectives on teaching and research practices to provide new insights into environmental issues and creative conservation solutions. As educators, we've created an interdisciplinary program that provides students with experiences that bridge science and art, fostering creative problem solving. Science students learn to communicate not only facts but also stories and data visualizations that engage audiences. Art majors learn about ecological processes and ideas that can be fertile ground for artistic exploration. As researchers, we use scientific and conservation evidence, artificial intelligence, and kinetic imaging to tell stories of bird extinctions. Together, we practice making our disciplines more relatable to each other and by extension, more relatable to the public.

Jacklyn Brickman and Sharon Gill have been collaborating since 2023 in both their research practices and in teaching a collaborative Art-Science Course. Gill is a sound ecologist and educator, whose research interests include bird communication, impacts of human-driven environmental change on bird song and collective soundscapes, and bird extinctions. Brickman is a visual artist and educator whose work entangles science fact with fiction to address social and environmental concerns by employing natural entities, processes, and technology which spans installation, video, and performance, cross-disciplinary collaboration and social engagement. Brickman is an assistant professor of Kinetic Imaging and Gill is a professor of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Program begins at 6:30pm; doors open at 6:00 for social time

​Join the Wild Ones Red Cedar Chapter for an evening learning about Manoomin, also known as wild rice, and its cultural, ecological and spiritual significance. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Nichole Keway Biber, Mid-Michigan Campaign Organizer for Clean Water Action, and a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians. She will teach us about manoomin which flourished in wetlands of the upper Midwest prior to the arrival of European settlers. Indigenous peoples operating in reciprocal relationship with manoomin are currently leading efforts to reestablish stands throughout Michigan. This event is free and open to the public.

This event is open to the community and is co-hosted by:
Wild Ones River City Chapter and Blandford Nature Center.

The Exchange will take place at Blandford, NOT the Highlands as previously advertised.

The purpose of the Native Plant Exchange is to foster natural landscaping with native plants. Bring favorite native plants from your yard to share with others and take some home for yourself. 

All plants are FREE, and you are not required to bring plants in order to take some home. This is a place where those with an abundance can share with others and help them get started with native plants. 

Note this important time schedule:

10 am–10:45 am - Plant Drop-off 
(Please arrive early to allow us time to arrange plants by category and species.)
10:45 am - Announcements and guidelines for the plant exchange
11 am–Noon - Pick out plants to take home

If you are bringing plants:
• Make sure that roots are intact and plants are potted well.
• Please label with as many details as possible: common name, Latin name (if known), sun/part-sun/shade preference, and soil/moisture preference (if known).

If you are taking plants:
• Please bring a cardboard box or other container for transporting.
• Educational materials and planting/growing advice will be available to get you started! 

Click the READ MORE button below for more information.

Join WOWC Seeds to Community for a time of hands-on stewardship at MSU DPFLI! We'll be collecting seeds for propogation, pulling weeds, and caring for the gardens together. No experience necessary, just show up with your enthusiasm.

MSU DPFLI will be providing food which is great chance to enjoy some good company together.

Space is limited, register using the button below to save your spot!

Wild Ones Central U.P. is ending the season with an in-the-field plant walk/seed collection at Aronson Island in Escanaba, followed immediately by a cookout/potluck at the Ludington Park pavilion. Attend one or both!

Plant Walk/Seed collection, 4:30-5:30: Meet at the parking area at the north end of the Aronson Island road. We will tour the native plantings on that end of the island, and show participants how to collect and preserve seeds and give suggestions for planting. We will provide envelopes for seed collection.

Cookout/Potluck, 5:30: We will provide "grill food," drinks, and plates, cups and flatware. Please bring a dish to pass as you are able (though not required). Even a bag of chips or some cookies is ok! There is electricity at the pavilion if you want to bring a crock pot or similar. It will be helpful for us to have RSVPs for the potluck with an indication of what folks are bringing (use the comments here or email [email protected]), but it's not required.

This event is free and open to all!