Creighton University holds an annual day of service where alumni from each club around the country get together and pitch in at a local non-profit. This year the Milwaukee Alumni Club visited the Urban Ecology Center on April 4, 2009 where five of us helped to rid the land surrounding the center and nearby Milwaukee River shoreline of an invasive and non-native plant called Garlic Mustard. IMG_6881 It is a very nice facility and even has pretty branded buses! IMG_6882 There's the evil Garlic Mustard plant, they start small but quickly overshadow local plants and also actively prevent germination of competing seeds. You can tell the plant by the bumpy leaves and erratic pattern along the leaf perimeter. IMG_6884 Beth Cleary '01 clearing the invasive plant species IMG_6886 Andrew Cleary '01 does the same IMG_6888 See what nicer plants produce! IMG_6891 More garlic mustard plants picked and awaiting slow disintegration IMG_6893 Pat Porter tries the plant we're helping remove - the garlic mustard plant is edible and makes a good pesto sauce ingredient IMG_6895 Volunteers walking back for a tour of the center after work - Andrew Cleary, Beth Cleary, Francine Fosselman, and Pat Porter IMG_6897 IMG_6900 Geologic marker #34 of the Urban Ecology Center IMG_6905 A nice sculpture near the Urban Ecology Center IMG_6906 IMG_6913 Our guide gives us a tour IMG_6919 Andrew Cleary '01 and Francine Fosselman '71 take a trip down a slide used to teach children about the water cycle IMG_6923 Quite a rare frog lives in the native animals area! IMG_6927 Teton the snake IMG_6935 In the basement were several good examples of recycled material for use in building and decorative home elements IMG_6936 Denim recycled for wall insulation IMG_6937 IMG_6938 IMG_6942 In the winter, community members can rent cross-country skis from the center - here are ski shoes IMG_6944 A display above the Vermiculture/worm farming area in the basement - they use red wigglers which are great, but also non-native to Wisconsin. They use these isolation but don't put back into the soil - they sort out the worms by starving them for a couple weeks then putting the soil on top of some rubbish separated by a grate. The worms move down into the rubbish to eat, the soil is removed and the worms are sadly killed after that :( IMG_6948 The Citizen Science Lab! IMG_6949 Fun plant samples IMG_6951 IMG_6952 On the tour, guides ask the children to find this secret door - it's pretty neat! IMG_6957 Many of these clocks in various themes (another one is made of arrowheads/stones) are hung around the center, made by a volunteer IMG_6961 Unfortunately half-flush toilets are still quite rare in the US and so the center has had to try a number of different strategies to communicate delicately when people should use the two buttons on their toilets. This is the best approach they've found thus far - "If you go a bit, the half flush you should hit. If you go a lot, press the full flush spot" IMG_6965 There's a neat rainwater collection system - this one from the roof runs from the gutters into a holding pond/rain barrels. The rainwater is used again to flush the toilets and other grey water uses in the center. IMG_6976 There is a fairly large solar panel installation on the roof of the center IMG_6977 The Milwaukee skyline from the lookout tower next to the center IMG_6981 A weather monitoring station at the center IMG_6987 Metal stairs of the tower IMG_6989 Light switches at the center show the power usage of each set of lights they trigger, allowing power users to make better informed decisions with a very simple/cheap solution! IMG_6992 The CU Alumni Day of Service MKE gang! Pat Porter, Jay Langhurst, Francine Fosselman, Andrew & Beth Cleary IMG_6995 There are a few instruments for community members to use as well IMG_6997 There's a cool ad on a brick wall across the street that says "Schlitz - The Drink that Made Milwaukee Famous" - I think the word Drink used to be Beer but it's tough to tell... IMG_7001 After the volunteering and tour, we had lunch at the fabulous Shahrazad Persian & Middle Eastern Cuisine restuarant on Oakland Ave nearby. There was a neat lamp in the foyer of the restaurant. Return to Features