It's been a while since you've received a Woods Writings from us, but we promise it's for great reasons!

We finished out Spring with an incredibly busy May, which also included the welcoming of our Seasonal Outdoor Educators (formerly known as naturalists) on May 20th!

There was barely a gap from our School Year visits, just one day in fact! We closed out our school year with Milwaukee German Immersion and Bayview Montessori, and started our main summer season with WI Land + Water back for the 3rd year in a row!

Early this spring it looked like low water levels were going to keep us from launching our boats, but the switch to heavy rains, dampened our water activities for later spring and early summer  The Wisconsin River has seemed to cooperate with us for most of the summer allowing for us to get our visitors paddling, swimming, and  barging to Blackhawk Island for hikes.

We've welcomed back many of our treasured 4-H County Camps including the following counties in June: Washington, Grant, Lafayette, Walworth, Waupaca, Iowa, Portage, and Winnebago! To start July we had staff take off to Celebrate the 4th of July and we continued with these 4-H Camps: Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Dane, Crawford, Vernon, La Crosse, Richland and Monroe! In addition to our many 4-H groups we also welcomed back Wisconsin Dells FFA and UW-Milwaukee Upward Bound. New to Upham Woods so far this summer were SOAC (Summer Outdoor Adventure Club), Orton Park Camp, Milwaukee Chin Baptist Church, SOAR Camp for Gifted & Talented Youth, Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council, BLACK Inc, and both Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops!

As we build back up we've still continued to offer Natural Resources Foundation Field Trips, host a major at Grandparents University, and provide outreach at our local Library!

This summer our teaching staff was comprised of  5 Seasonal Outdoor Educators in addition to our 2 WisCorps Individual Placement Service members! As we near the end of Summer our Outdoor educators are beginning to depart after giving our visiting groups a wonderful summer and developing their own leadership skills! We are grateful for all of their hard work and hope to see many of them back next season. 

Nathan, Laura, and Katya testing out PBM elements!

Katherine and Matt helping disassemble the old boardwalk on Blackhawk Island. 

Laura, Katya, Ada, Mark, Matt, and Nathan 

Universe in the Park (UitP) includes a RAIN OR SHINE presentation on astronomy, including recent astronomical news, and a weather-dependent star party, where visitors have the opportunity to view available astronomical objects through a telescope. UitP is a program of the Department of Astronomy and UW Space Place.

Wednesday September 11, 2024, at 8 PM in the Main Lodge at Upham Woods. 

Stop by, say hello, and learn a thing or two from the brand-new Wisconsin Master Naturalist Volunteers, and check out what they learned during their intensive training at Upham Woods!
These new volunteers will share their new knowledge via exciting interactive displays and hands-on activities at Mirror Lake State Park. It will be fun for all ages! 

Saturday, September 14, 2024 from 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM; Mirror Lake State park, Beach Shelter

Look at that Work!

Thanks to our generous donors during our 2023 End of Year Campaign and 2024 Day of the Badger we raised enough funds to make our goal happen! We'll be returning some sections to trail, installing new boardwalk and platform, and a new gangway from the dock!

Our staff (Katya and Laura pictured) have been at work removing our old Boardwalk on Blackhawk Island's Southwest Side between groups this summer in anticipation of our planned rehabilitation this fall in partnership with WisCorps, Inc. 

Groups can expect to enjoy the improved access to experience the diverse forest communities of Blackhawk Island later this fall!

This summer, Hope Dzik, Freshwater@UW Research Student began developing our protocol to detect invasive carp in the Wisconsin River using eDNA! Hope's work is a part of a larger project, Engaging Youth in Monitoring Aquatic Species Using Environmental DNA with funds from WI Sea Grant Institute and a Dean's Innovation Grant.

We will be working to finalize the protocol and develop our lesson plan to engage youth in this hands-on Biotechnology field experience with hopes to pilot with upper middle school and high school groups starting in Spring of 2025!

What is eDNA? Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material from a plant or animal that is found in the air, water or soil. Fish, such as invasive carp, release DNA into the water in the form of skin cells, secretions, and feces. eDNA sampling allows for testing without having the organism itself. 

Bring your Youth Group to Upham Woods

Did you know that we serve groups as small as 10 and as large as 140? You can come for a half-day or stay a few nights!

If you care deeply for the work and mission of Upham Woods and want to help provide a sustaining source of support in the future, consider creating a legacy gift by including the University of Wisconsin Foundation and specifying a restricted gift to Upham Woods in your estate plans. You may prefer to include in your will or trust a sum of money, a percentage of your estate, a specific asset, a work of art, or a piece of real estate that you wish to give.