UW Oshkosh / Webster Stanley Elementary Collaboration

For the Spring 2015 Semester, Shoreland Restoration chair Justin Mitchell will be leading a group of engaged UW Oshkosh students on a semester-long shoreland restoration management project, including a native plant sale, a community presentation to the local Master Gardeners organization, a native plants of Wisconsin education day with Webster Stanley Elementary School, and a full workday for the installation of a second restoration bed.

The collaboration is part of Dr. Paul van Auken's UW Oshkosh Sociology Quest III course, seeking to connect students with real-world community programming that addressed a shared community problem - specifically the identified water quality and shoreland management concerns cited by the city's contracted assessment of Miller's Bay.

Millers Bay water in 2015.  Glowing green algae highlight the need for 
improved management all along Lake Winnebago, including along 
Oshkosh municipal shore zones.

Fourth grade students from Mrs. Schmidt's 4th grade Webster Elementary class will learn about issues of water quality and the roles that plants play in helping to protect and clean water.  The students will also each grow a native Lupine plant from sprouted seed that they will take home to plant when the weather permits.

New plot design concept, seeking to blend a natural prairie with a partially-designed garden
appearance.  Feedback from three of the Parks Advisory Board suggested that they did not like the
naturalized appearance achieved in the original installation, prompting the Shoreland Group to create
this design model.  

Why Native Plants

"Why Native Plants" is an excerpt from Urban & Suburban Meadows". Doug Tallamy, entomologist and author, highlights the importance of native plants and the native plant/ native insect connection for sustainable landscapes.