Nature or Environment

University fellowship aims to create 'dream team of sustainability'

stuxbury — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 16:07:05 +0000

University fellowship aims to create 'dream team of sustainability' stuxbury Wed, 10/23/2024 - 12:07

College of Business senior Anisa Elezi says an internship where she evaluated eco-friendly procedures opened her eyes to the importance of sustainable practices. And now, through a new fellowship at ��-Dearborn, she’ll be able to explore that interest further in a way that will benefit the campus community and beyond.

Elezi is one of four students named as an Environmental Interpretive Center Collegiate Sustainability Fellow. The program, which is a collaboration between the EIC and the Office of the Provost, selected one student from each ��-Dearborn college to improve sustainability practices on campus, both through individual projects and interdisciplinary collaboration.

In addition to Elezi, students are College of Education, Health and Human Services EdD student Diana Mtairek, College of Engineering and Computer Science master’s student Kirill Nartov and College of Arts, Sciences and Letters senior Leah Williams.

Elezi, who’s majoring in digital marketing and public relations, says she wrote about sustainable practices and identified areas for improvement when it comes to eco-friendly procedures while at chemical firm BASF, where she’s currently a marketing and communications intern. With this new interest, Elezi thought about her time at ��-Dearborn — the other place where she spent the majority of her waking hours.

"I realized that I was getting more into sustainability," Elezi says. "I found it very interesting to see the different eco-friendly things that could be done that may not be incorporated into what we do at ��-Dearborn — yet." That’s when she learned about the EIC fellowship and its goal to develop a central hub for the sustainability efforts across campus.

Professor of Geology Jacob Napieralski, who became the EIC director in 2023, says he’s learned about all of the work toward sustainability that happens across campus — like the Planet Blue Ambassador program, waste reduction initiatives, carbon neutrality efforts, faculty sustainability-focused committee boards and more.

Napieralski wanted a way to amplify these initiatives. “Great things are happening, but it’s not organized in a specific community-facing location,” says Napieralski, who collaborates closely with ��-Dearborn’s Sustainability Coordinator, Grace Maves. “We want to work on sustainability initiatives in a way that it becomes part of our DNA at ��-Dearborn.”

With the EIC hosting many community-focused events that showcase the importance of nature and environment independent of the four colleges, Napieralski saw the EIC as the perfect place for a central hub. His aim is to bring together diverse strands of sustainability work and generate new ideas by cross-pollinating the expertise of students from each of ��-Dearborn's colleges.

The students meet at the EIC on Wednesdays to discuss sustainability ideas and initiatives.

"We looked for students who were very interested in learning, understood that they're going to start with a blank slate and brought a lot of tools to the team," Napieralski says. He noted that applicants demonstrated creativity and originality that the application and interview process, with students submitting proposals relating to the use of artificial intelligence for sustainability projects and the synthesis of automotive engineering with computer coding, for instance. “There were moments when interviewing these students that we said to ourselves, ‘We never thought about that,’" Napieralski observes.

In addition to collaborating with the other fellows, Elezi says she’ll focus on marketing the Environmental Interpretive Center and promoting its ongoing events. She says she is also implementing improvements to the EIC website and newsletter to improve traffic and clickthrough rates in an effort to get people engaged in the community- and student-facing environmental programs.

"I think the EIC is an unknown gem of this campus. Just being there a couple of times a week for the past month has made me want to bring more friends here," Elezi says.

Provost Gabriella Scarlatta says Napieralski approached her to discuss the centralized hub and student fellowship idea — and that ��-Dearborn’s leadership team supported the efforts and funded the student positions.

"This will allow the EIC to boost its footprints on and off campus, improving effectiveness of sustainability-related efforts at the EIC and across campus, and diversifying the participants that engage in environmental sustainability and equity while supporting and strengthening interdisciplinary collaborations," Scarlatta says.

Napieralski, who works on environmental justice projects like flooding issues in low-income Detroit communities, says the fellowship and hub will also make the work taking place on campus more accessible to the community. The EIC brings thousands of community members to campus per year through nature walks, K-12 field trips and more.

“We want to be the go-to pipeline for information and resources. We want to know the priorities at the department- and college-levels and then roll them out at the university-level,” he says. “I see the four colleges as legs and the EIC as the body. Together, we can turn and face the community to show what we are doing and how we can be partners.”

He says the student fellows’ involvement through ideas, advocacy and their college-affiliate work is an essential part of making this happen.

“The four we selected really did stand out in their ability, especially in their past history, their ability to work together collectively and their ideas," Napieralski adds. "Now, we will go from there and build things together."

Story by Sarah Tuxbury and Shaun Manning; Photos by Annie Barker

Nature or Environment

Sustainability

University-wide

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

College of Business

College of Education, Health, and Human Services

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Off

Wed, 10/23/2024 - 16:02

New campuswide initiative brings together sustainability efforts from all four ��-Dearborn colleges.

EIC Sustainability Fellows are, from left, Anisa Elezi, Kirill Nartov, Diana Mtairek and Leah Williams.

Plan a trip to the lake

stuxbury — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:49:26 +0000

Plan a trip to the lake stuxbury Fri, 08/02/2024 - 11:49

Standing at the edge of Fair Lane Lake, there are wood ducks, great blue herons and a black-crowned night heron — all on a recent weekday lunch walk.

The trail highlighted today starts at the EIC, in red, and continues around the lake.

“We’ve seen osprey, eagles, kingfishers and other birds on or over this lake. More than 100 years after it was put here, this lake continues to serve its purpose,” says Environmental Interpretive Center Program Supervisor Rick Simek, while pointing out the many waterfowl — including a wood duck family — seen on the lake. “The lake was created in 1915 as a conservation effort. By the early 1900s, some waterfowl species were in decline. That included the wood duck, which was rapidly declining and thought to be headed toward extinction. This lake was intended to provide a refuge for wood ducks and other waterfowl."

For the last installment of Reporter’s summer trail series, Simek highlights a few interesting sights, sounds and facts around and about Fair Lane Lake.

This walk, which takes about 45 minutes depending on your pace, starts at the EIC. Then head down Orchard Trail, turn left at the lake and follow it around until you are back at Orchard Trail. Trail tip: wear bug spray, especially on a wet, humid day.

The lake and its history

As Simek shared above, the lake was created with birds in mind. “Henry Ford was a very complicated man, to put it mildly. But he was instrumental in protecting bird life and promoting conservation efforts,” Simek says. “The reason we have so many birds here today — and birds that are doing very well — is because of him.”

In 1915, Ford commissioned a 10-acre lake — which is now closer to eight acres as dirt from the 1959 campus construction was poured in the lake — that was on a gradual slope that went from 12 feet on the south end (by the Ford estate) and became more shallow as it moved north (the side closest to Henry Ford College).

At the shallow end, wild rice was planted to provide food and habitat for marsh birds. Native plantings and waterfowl food favorites like the arrowhead plants, including the still-visible duck potato, and sweet-scented water lily were planted along the lake. And fish were plentiful and could winter at the deep end of the lake. “There is no evidence that Henry Ford fished at the lake, so the fish may have been put in to provide food for waterfowl such as diving ducks, which often feed on fish,” Simek says.

With the trees, foliage and other natural debris that’s settled at the bottom of water, the maximum depth has changed over the course of a century. According to a research project conducted by 2014 environmental science graduate Ryan Keeling, who took more than 100 measurements across the pond to create a 3D image, the maximum depth is seven feet. Keeling now works at Mast Reforestation in Seattle as a senior manager of GIS technical operations.

“The lake is aging,” Simek says. “But the fish are doing well and the lake continues to provide food and refuge for the plants and animals that live here.”

The stone bridge and steps along the lake

Looking straight out of a storybook, there’s a stone bridge on the walk along the lake. But its origins are a bit of a mystery. Simek says he’s been looking into it for years, but the Fords didn’t include it among their archival blueprints or any other documentation. Simek’s best guess is that it was built around 1915, shortly after the lake was made.

What he does know is that it is a beautiful way for the lake overflow to drain into the Rouge River. “It’s a great meditative place, especially after a heavy rain or when the snow is melting. I come out here often,” Simek says. “The water flows down like a small waterfall.”

Continuing down the path right past the bridge, there are stone steps along the lake. These were built so the Fords could easily go onto the ice to skate. For summer activities, there is a small metal ring along the steps; it's where the Fords may have kept a small boat, Simek says.

The tree trail and a ‘fallen giant’

After you walk through an open chain-link gate, there’s a sign with a QR code for the EIC’s website on the right. The sign reads, “The Hidden Benefits of Trees: An Exploration of Medicinal and Other Uses from First Nations to Today.”

Matching up each number-marked tree to the website, fun facts are shared about eight different tree species on the trail. For example, boiled husks from the nuts of the black walnut tree were used to make yellow dye for fabrics. And the inner bark of the black cherry tree was made into a tea that alleviated symptoms of colds, fevers and labor pain by First Nations peoples like the Chippewa and Potawatomi. Simek says ‘2007 biological sciences alum Greg Norwood, who is now an ecologist at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, developed the tree trail guide as an undergraduate. The current guide is an updated version of Norwood’sl project.

Just past the last tree on the trail, look to the left. There’s a huge white oak on the forest floor. Simek calls it the “fallen giant” and says it was more than 300 years old when it died around 2000. The age estimation of the tree was made in the late 1970s by tree expert Paul Thompson — a statewide big tree coordinator for the Michigan Botanical Club, a role he had for 40-plus years — who worked with Biology and Environmental Studies Professor Emeritus Orin Gelderloos.

Simek, who started at ��-Dearborn in 1994, remembers when the tree still stood. “It has endured for more than three centuries — that’s nearly 100 years before we were a country. It’s this very real link to the past,” he says. “I like to think about the people and wildlife who found shade or shelter under the tree. They may no longer be here, but we will have this connection to them, thanks to this old tree.” Simek says he is sad to see the white oak slowly break down, but it also makes room for new life — including a small oak tree, which is in a cage to protect it from hungry deer, right near it. “It gives you the perspective of not just looking back, but also looking forward,” he says. “I hope this habitat stays preserved so this little oak can live 300 years too.”

Yellow flowers, conservation efforts and Eagle Scout projects

Turning the bend of the lake, there are tall yellow flowers on either side. Simek says they are ox-eye “false sunflowers,” a native wildflower. But these pretty petals didn’t just show up — it was a several-year effort of Simek and EIC volunteers. “As we’ve been removing invasive plants, we've been scattering ox-eye seeds. Birds like the seeds, pollinators like the flowers and I really enjoy seeing a nice pop of color,” he says.

Rick Simek says the sign at the top of Orchard Trail was created in 2017 by an Eagle Scout.

Community volunteers also are responsible for the cages around the small trees along the path to protect the growing saplings from hungry deer, the wooden walkways over the marshy areas along the path and the large EIC welcome sign at the mouth of the trail.

“With preserving this area, the university has given people, myself included, direct access to hands-on personal experience with nature. It is truly one-of-a-kind and the community appreciates what we have to offer,” Simek says. “We’ve had at least 40 Eagle Scout projects done here and I took a call from someone interested in doing one today. Nonprofits, schools, individuals and businesses come out to be wonderful stewards who make sure we keep this outdoor classroom and habitat in a condition that benefits everyone.”

Reporter checked out the south side of the Rouge Gateway trail in July, the north side of the trail in June and the EIC’s Orchard Trail in May. Have a favorite spot on campus and want to know a little more about it? Reach out and we’ll do a little digging.

Story by Sarah Tuxbury.

Campus Life

Nature or Environment

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Environmental Interpretive Center

Off

Fri, 08/02/2024 - 15:48

Take a dip into the history of Fair Lane Lake, along with what you’ll see when hiking around the trails that surround it.

Rick Simek relaxes on a bench on the south end of Fair Lane Lake. Photos by Sarah Tuxbury

Intriguing sites just steps from the classroom

stuxbury — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 11:26:12 +0000

Intriguing sites just steps from the classroom stuxbury Mon, 07/08/2024 - 07:26

Fossils that dot building exteriors. A wrought iron-fenced rose garden that sits on top of underground tunnels. And a new water feature that helps the fish travel up the Rouge River from the Detroit River for the first time in more than a century.

These are a few of the intriguing sites along a trek from campus to the south end of Rouge Gateway Trail. First created in 2005, the gateway trail runs through campus and gives the community a scenic way to explore local history and a route to downtown West Dearborn.

“We have so many fascinating landscape features right in our backyard. Some are beautiful, some are functional, some are intriguing — and some have a little bit of everything,” says EIC Program Coordinator and Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer, who has led educational programs along this route. “If you want a shorter walk, you can start at the CASL Building or Fieldhouse and walk along Fair Lane Road from there. You’ll still see most of the sites I’m talking about today.”

This month's trek, marked by a purple path, takes us from the EIC (in red on the left) past the Henry Ford Estate (in red on the right) and onto the south side of the Rouge Gateway Trail.

A walk from the Environmental Interpretive Center to the Rouge Gateway Trail’s south bridge and back takes about 90 minutes, depending on your pace. View a campus natural areas map.

Here are a few things you’ll see when you take the south side portion of the Rouge Gateway Trail. Since the Orchard Trail leg of the walk — which is the beginning path from the EIC to Fair Lane Lake — was previously covered in a recent article, this trail guide’s highlights will start at the edge of Fair Lane Lake.

The greenspace between Fair Lane Lake to the Henry Ford Estate

At first glance, it just looks like grass — but something else is going on here. The land didn’t always look like this. Nearly 110 years ago, this meadow was designed to use curiosity to keep people moving forward.

When at the lake, you cannot see the house. When in the middle of the meadow, you can’t see the lake or the house — just an opening in the trees that hints something is up ahead.

Geese by Fair Lane Lake

Closer to the 1915 mansion, there’s a glimpse of the 56-room residence. McLeer says the peek-a-boo pathway was created through the progressive realization technique. And Henry Ford’s landscape architect, Jens Jensen, did it by redesigning the entire area.

“Jensen turned farmland into a scenic space that looks like it could have always been here,” McLeer says. “Everything you see in the meadow, including the lake, was put here by Jensen.”

On the grounds, McLeer says there are 100-plus-year-old Hawthorn trees that dot the landscape, which was a nod to the prairie style of Frank Lloyd Wright. Looking up, there are herons, hawks and eagles that nest in or around the meadow. “This meadow was created in a way that supports and highlights nature,” McLeer says. “At the time it was done, this was progressive. I think we can say, 100 years later, that Jensen’s plan was successful.”

A century-old terrace

Once getting to the clearing end of the meadow, Henry Ford Estate — a national historic landmark — is completely visible. The first prominent feature seen is the home’s terrace. Made of limestone from Kelleys Island State Park in Ohio, there are surprises in the brownish-gray material. “There are visible fossils in this limestone. They are everywhere,” McLeer says, pointing out lighter patterns on the steps of the porch and exterior walls of the house. Fossils include extinct marine invertebrates like trilobites and nautilus-type shells.

“This limestone was all under water in Lake Erie at some point. It’s a 100-plus-year-old home made of a million-plus-year-old material,” McLeer says. In addition to the main house, McLeer says the estate’s garage, powerhouse, gazebo and potting shed also are made from the natural stone.

The rose garden

Keep walking south around the 31,000-square-foot house and you’ll arrive at a picturesque rose garden with a fountain in the center. The garden’s opening welcomes guests with a decorative wrought iron gate that once belonged to an 18^th century English manor. The gate, pictured at the top of this article, was noticed by Clara Ford on a European vacation and a deal was struck to bring it back with them for their home.

Karen Marzonie, Fair Lane director of gardens and grounds, says the flowers, including the roses around the estate, have been carefully researched by combing through historic photographs, correspondence and receipts of plant purchases from when the Fords lived at Fair Lane. “It’s not unusual for homeowners, especially garden enthusiasts like Clara Ford, to revise their plant choices over time," she says. "Fair Lane’s gardens and grounds reflect the plant preferences of the Fords while responding to today’s need for disease- and deer-resistant plant varieties.”

Not only is the garden beautiful, it’s intriguing. McLeer says there’s a tunnel from the Ford’s power house to the main home that runs under the roses. Ford used a variety of tunnels to travel to the buildings without needing to be concerned about weather.

The tunnels were also an important safety feature in the wake of the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, in which the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh’s 20-month-old son was snatched from his home. McLeer says the Fords saw the underground passage as a way to protect their often-visiting grandchildren. At the time, their youngest grandchild, William Clay Ford, was 7. McLeer says she’s been in the tunnels before, but the tunnels are not open to the public, with the estate currently undergoing renovations.

The south side bridge

Keep traveling down Fair Lane Road until there’s an opening to the right marked by a “Rouge River Gateway Trail” sign. Take that until you see a bridge. Once you get to the red south bridge and cross the Rouge River, there’s a fork in the road — one way leads you to downtown West Dearborn and the other takes you across the river from the Henry Ford Estate.

“You can choose your own adventure,” says McLeer, who walked the trail recently. “It can take you to a busy downtown for lunch or a quiet place to enjoy listening to birds and the sounds of rushing river water.”

If there’s time, stop on the bridge and look for wildlife. McLeer says evidence of beaver families — like gnawed tree trunks — are often seen from the south bridge. “It depends on the time of day whether you’ll see them. They are most active at dawn and dusk,” she says.

Incredibly, the bridge is quiet and serene, even though a busy downtown is just around the bend.

Downtown West Dearborn

Looking to be part of the action? Head left. The trailhead emerges in downtown West Dearborn near the former Andiamo’s building. It seems a bit loud with car traffic after being among the trees and bird songs. There are trees along the way for shade, historic buildings for visual interest and restaurant options for a nice lunch break. Buddy’s Pizza is a few blocks from where the path emerges and more restaurants, coffee shops, stores, parks and museums are nearby.

There’s a Dearborn Summer Market that brings together the community with local farmers, entrepreneurs and small businesses. It’s at Bryant Branch Library — a very short walk from the trailhead — and runs from 3 to 8 p.m. July 12, Aug. 9 and Sept. 13. The address is 22100 Michigan Ave.

Prefer to take a bike? ��-Dearborn has a bike route that goes from the EIC to downtown West Dearborn via the Rouge River Gateway Trail. Want to make it a social event with ��-Dearborn colleagues? There's a group meeting at the Renick University Center's patio at 4 p.m. Friday, July 12, to walk to the market.

The fish ladder

If a scenic nature walk is the preference, go to the right and cross the second red bridge. On the right, you’ll come to a small waterfall in the river that appears natural — but it was added in the early 20th century to generate hydroelectric power that powered the Henry Ford Estate and 200-plus houses in Dearborn.

McLeer says it’s attractive and innovative, but the waterfall posed a problem for the fish that swam up the Rouge River from the Detroit River. They were blocked by the 12-foot waterfall/dam.

Looking at the environmental concerns and the health of the Rouge River and its wildlife, the Rouge River Advisory Council recently led an effort to create a $9 million fish ladder. (Yes, it’s a real thing and not an idea from Dr. Seuss.) Construction started in 2018 and finished in 2023. As McLeer puts it, “Now the fish can swim upstream to make more of themselves.”

To help Friends of the Rouge learn more about the fish in the river, McLeer says ��-Dearborn alum Robert Muller conducted a long-term research project that assessed fish life in the water. Muller began the project in 2012 as a college intern and continues the work today. The data he gathered helped show why the fish ladder was needed. Fish that travel upstream from the Detroit River to the Rouge include yellow perch, black crappie, emerald shiner and more.

“Environmentalists knew cutting off river access was an issue and the fish ladder had been in talks for quite some time. But it takes education, experts and funding to make large projects like this happen,” McLeer says. “It’s been more than 100 years, but they can finally swim upstream again.”

Many thanks to EIC Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer for sharing her insights along the trail journey.

Reporter checked out the north side of the trail in June and the EIC’s Orchard Lake trail in May. Next month, we’ll hike around Fair Lane Lake.

Story by Sarah Tuxbury.

Campus Life

Nature or Environment

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Environmental Interpretive Center

Off

Mon, 07/08/2024 - 11:25

Take a stroll back in time — and see a new environmentally friendly addition to the land — when on a campus walk toward the south side of the Rouge Gateway Trail.

An ornate gate opens to Fair Lane's rose garden. Photos/Sarah Tuxbury

��-Dearborn is infusing sustainability into its engineering programs

lblouin — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:57:45 +0000

��-Dearborn is infusing sustainability into its engineering programs lblouin Wed, 07/03/2024 - 08:57

The days when engineering was thought of as a purely technical discipline are disappearing fast. For sure, engineers still need strong foundational knowledge in math and science and discipline-specific technical training. But there’s a growing movement within engineering education to ensure we’re training engineers who can also think deeply about the environmental and societal impacts of their creations as a fundamental part of the engineering process.

At ��-Dearborn, this emphasis on creating holistic engineers is already taking a number of forms, from sustainability-focused classroom projects and research, to a new course in trustworthy AI, to undergraduate and graduate programs in human-centered design, a discipline that blends traditional engineering with skills borrowed from art, anthropology and sociology. Now, sustainability is poised to take an even broader role within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, say Associate Professors Alireza Mohammadi and Samir Rawashdeh. The robotics experts and frequent collaborators recently landed a $200,000 grant from the Lemelson Foundation to support CECS faculty who want to incorporate sustainability-focused projects into their courses. “In talking with the people at Lemelson, we realized if you want this to become part of the culture and not just an occasional or fringe thing, you have to reach a critical mass,” Rawashdeh says. “Sustainability has to be something students are hearing about in multiple places, across courses, across programs for them to internalize that this is part of what engineering is all about.”

Specifically, the Lemelson funding will enable Mohammadi and Rawashdeh to award minigrants to faculty who want to add course modules or projects that incorporate the Engineering for One Planet Framework, a set of fundamental environmental sustainability-focused learning outcomes developed by Lemelson and VentureWell, with input from stakeholders in academia, industry and nonprofit organizations. For example, in a smaller-scale antecedent to this larger Lemelson-funded initiative, Rawashdeh and Mohammadi used a minigrant to add sustainability-focused modules to two of their robotics courses. “It was an interesting challenge because the overlap between robotics and environmental issues isn’t obvious,” Rawashdeh says. But as they read up on it, they got all kinds of ideas — from robotics applications for environmental industries, like recycling, to end-of-life e-waste management strategies for robotics components, including their valuable lithium-based batteries. In Mohammadi’s course, the students optimized control algorithms for their lab’s fleet of mobile robots so that the machines would consume less energy while doing the same amount of work.

While the primary goal of the initiative is to develop a more environmentally focused mindset among engineering students, Mohammadi says emphasizing sustainability in CECS programs could also make engineering disciplines more attractive to a broader range of students. “The younger generation cares more about environmental and social issues, and engineering is absolutely a profession where you can make a large impact on society,” Mohammadi says. “But we don’t often describe it that way. So showing them how they can shape the world in a way they care about might make students who’ve never considered engineering before think about it as an option.” To match students and employers, they’ll also be hosting several industry events, where employers can talk with students about their sustainability-focused opportunities and students can showcase their work.

Interested faculty can apply now for minigrant funding by contacting Mohammadi or Rawashdeh. They’re hoping to fund projects in 10-16 courses over three years.

###

Story by Lou Blouin

Faculty and Staff

Nature or Environment

Technology

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Computer and Information Science

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Off

Wed, 07/03/2024 - 12:55

Part of being a great engineer these days is understanding the environmental and societal impacts of your work. But how do we train students to be holistic engineers?

Graphic by Violet Dashi. Images by Marianna and KUA g Gear via Adobe Stock

Get outdoors and explore

stuxbury — Mon, 13 May 2024 02:59:04 +0000

Get outdoors and explore stuxbury Sun, 05/12/2024 - 22:59

Looking above, there’s a bright blue indigo bunting from Central or South America making chirping sounds of “sweet sweet choo choo yum yum.” On the ground, mayapples — Clara Ford used to turn the ripened pulp of the fruit into jelly — are blooming. And right ahead is the Fair Lane Lake, with painted turtles on logs and great blue herons dipping in the water for fish.

Welcome to the Environmental Interpretive Center’s Orchard Trail, which visitors can access right near the Center’s covered picnic area.

On a recent walk down the Orchard Trail to the lake, EIC Program Coordinator and Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer pointed out interesting trail highlights that you might miss if you don’t know what you’re looking at. And this includes how the trail got its name.

Here's the walk we took, starting at the EIC, which looks a bit like Texas on this map. No matter where you choose to explore, there's something to see in all areas outside of the EIC. You'll find a list of free guided walks at the end of the article.

“When Henry and Clara Ford owned the land, there were apple trees here. After Mrs. Ford’s passing in 1950, the funding to maintain the apple orchard went somewhere else — and time has given us this wonderful example of natural succession,” McLeer said. “Apple trees are pretty short, 30 feet at the most. Maple trees, which are here now, are often more than 70 feet. As we stand here, I like the shade from the maples, but, for a smaller plant, it might be a problem. The apple trees are now gone, outcompeted by these wonderful maples that we can tap to make maple syrup, as Henry Ford used to do.”

Here are a few more things you may see if you take Orchard Trail to Lakeside Trail, walk to Jens Jensen’s Meadow and cut through the trail to end up at Clara Ford’s Rose Garden. The walk takes about an hour, depending on your pace.

View EIC and natural areas map.

The fuchsia-flowered tree near the picnic tables at the EIC

Although its blossoms are almost done, there is no missing the eastern redbud tree on the left side of the Environmental Interpretive Center. McLeer said initially its color grabs attention, but its family history may be even more intriguing. “What does this redbud have in common with sugar snap peas?” she asks. “They are both members of the pea family. If you look closely, the tree has pea pods.”

McLeer said nearly everywhere there’s a pink-hued flower, there will be a pod. But don’t pick the EIC tree when looking for a snack, she cautioned. The tree’s flowers are a favorite among hummingbirds, goldfinches, butterflies and bees. And a variety of EIC wildlife enjoy eating the Michigan native plant’s peapods. “This tree is like a grocery store for them. We have more nutritional options than the wildlife here, so let them enjoy,” she said. “Even though this one can’t offer you lunch, there are ways for you to still appreciate the tree. Not only is it beautiful, but the redbud tree still offers a nice shady place to relax and gives a front-row seat for you to see who visits the tree.”

A caged plant on the side of the lake

With its wine-colored flowers that bloom until mid-June, prairie trillium — which are native Michigan wildflowers— are striking and slowly grow up to a foot tall. But that’s not why they are caged off.

“Prairie trillium, known as Trillium recurvatum, are rare in Michigan. I don’t know another place where they grow naturally in our area. A biology faculty member, Judy Nesmith, found these about 10 years ago while taking out the Field Biology class,” McLeer said, adding that the plant is a Michigan species of special concern. “The cage is to protect it from trampling toes and hungry deer, while making it easier to point out to our classes and on trail walks.”

A family of geese enjoying Fair Lane Lake

Surrounding the prairie trillium are several bloodroot wildflowers (Sanguinaria canadensis). These ground-level plants, which are in the poppy family, have green-scalloped, lobed leaves and white-and-yellow flowers. But it’s what lies beneath the soil that gave the plant its name. “Bloodroot has a reddish-colored sap that comes out when its rhizome — which is a type of stem that grows underground — is cut open. Indigenous people who historically lived on this land used bloodroot as a dye, among other uses.”

When by the lake, also look for great blue herons [the EIC mascot], which frequently use the lake as a food resource, and painted turtles, the state reptile of Michigan.

“Fifth graders in Niles, Michigan, wrote to the state legislature and requested a state reptile. That’s how the painted turtle, which is native to Michigan, got its designation,” McLeer said. “This shows how speaking up about a change you want to see can make a difference.”

The area formerly known as Clara Ford’s Rose Garden

When planning for their future Fair Lane Estate, Henry and Clara Ford bought the 1,300 acres of land from several local farming families, including the Ten Eycks and the Blacks, in 1908. They made changes to the property — one major transformation was this rose garden space. It was spread out over three acres and contained more than 10,000 rose bushes, tended by 20 full-time gardeners.

This formal European-style garden was grand and attracted people from all over the world, McLeer said. However, not everyone appreciated the Rose Garden. Due to a contractual disagreement, famed landscape architect Jens Jenson, a proponent of native plantings who designed the other grounds of Fair Lane, resigned when he learned the rose garden was commissioned. The archive photo above is circa 1926. The image at the top of the article is what the rose garden area looks like today.

The formality of the rose garden is long gone, but the pond and stone gazebo remain. There are mallards sitting on nests in the pond’s reeds. Wildflowers are growing everywhere. The garden’s pond is used by many student groups to study aquatic insects and naturally occurring flora. “It’s now one of our most valuable study areas on the grounds, as far as teaching goes. We typically welcome about 2,000 kids a month from April to October on this property here. And those are the organized school groups,” McLeer said. “There’s always something to learn when coming out here. I’ve been at ��-Dearborn for more than 30 years, and these grounds are still teaching me new things.”

The stone bridge

There's a bridge made of boulders not far from the former rose garden, likely built circa 1920. The bridge's purpose was to create a walkway over the man-made drain for lake overflow. And that overflow water made for an outlet to the lake.

The ice skating warming shed, built in 1920. Image courtesy/ Rick Simek

Something once on the spot, which isn't there now, was a large log cabin that the Fords built and used as an ice skating equptment shed. "Henry Ford had ice skates in nearly every size, so if someone visiting wanted to skate, they could do so," said EIC Program Supervisor and Manager of the Natural Areas Rick Simek. "The skating shed was heated too, so it was a nice warm-up spot."

And where there is currently a bench, the Fords had one there too. "They would use it to lace up their skates before getting on the ice," McLeer said.

Reporter will feature a trail and the insights of ��-Dearborn’s EIC staff each month — on June 4, July 9 and Aug. 6 — during the summer.

See something on your walk that you're curious about? Snap a photo and send it to EIC's Laura Mallard at lmallard@umich.edu for answers and to have your finds possibly show up on EIC socials.

Upcoming walks

Bird walks
May 18 and 25, 9 a.m., EIC. Register here.
Join EIC staff member Rick Simek on the trails and see spring migrant birds. Whether just passing through on migration or staying a bit longer, many birds call the land outside of the EIC home.

Mushroom identification 101
May 23, 5 p.m. lecture, 6 p.m. walk, EIC.
EIC naturalist and 2023 ��-Dearborn graduate Mike Solomon leads a tour through the grounds pointing out a variety of mushrooms, how to identify them and their uses.

Nature Walks for Mental Health
May 22, June 5 and 19, 1:30 p.m.. EIC. Register for this program.
Relax, unwind and get outside; with brief guided meditations and 45-minute nature walks.

Crepuscular Caper
May 24, 8 p.m., EIC. Register here.
Join EIC Naturalists for a casual walk in the Natural Area at twilight. Crepuscular is derived from the Latin word Crepusculum, meaning “twilight.”

Photography Walk
May 30, 2:30 p.m., EIC. Register for this program.
Take a hike with an EIC naturalist and nature photographer. Bring your own cameras and accessories — they supply the scenery.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Nature or Environment

Environmental Interpretive Center

Off

Mon, 05/13/2024 - 02:48

From historic structures to native species plants, Environmental Interpretive Center experts point out a few interesting finds you can see on the campus trails.

Children of 2002 alum Phil Tuxbury — Ronen and Rebekah Tuxbury, ages 7 and 8 — explore the former rose garden area on a walk in May 2024. Photo by Sarah Tuxbury

Campus got some big infrastructure updates this summer

lblouin — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 17:15:30 +0000

Campus got some big infrastructure updates this summer lblouin Mon, 08/21/2023 - 13:15

Summer is the facilities team's time to shine, even if no one’s looking. Taking advantage of the lower population density on campus, crews typically dig into dozens of projects, big and small, that would be too dusty, dirty and noisy for the heart of the school year. This summer was no exception, and in fact, Executive Director for Facilities Operations Carol Glick says this was a particularly big season for critical infrastructure projects, including a new roof for part of the Renick University Center and a major stormwater management project that’s helping keep campus’ most vulnerable buildings flood-free. We’ve rounded up some of the headline improvements below, plus a few teasers for a big project that’s jumping into the design phase this fall.

LED lighting, a new roof for the RUC and more

Compared to past years, Glick says many of this summer’s upgrades aren’t particularly showy. But they’re important nonetheless, especially in the context of some of the university’s long-term goals. For example, ��-Dearborn is currently planning a major renovation of the Renick University Center (more on that below), but before that project gets underway, Glick wanted to address the building’s aging roof, which has been on the deferred maintenance list for several years. This summer, crews replaced half the roof on the RUC, which will clear the way for interior renovations. The facilities teams also completed work on a years-long lighting project, which replaced old lighting fixtures and lamps with highly efficient LEDs in almost every campus building. To Glick’s point, maybe new lights don’t sound real flashy. But the savings — and environmental impact — have been huge. Also on the sustainability front, Glick says we’ve begun design work to update the cooling system in the library. The current absorption chiller runs on steam, which is produced with natural gas. After a retrofit, the chiller will run on electricity, lowering the carbon intensity of the system. It will also use a technology called thermal energy storage, which harnesses non-peak-time electricity to economically create and store thermal energy at night for use later during the heat of the day.

New stormwater infrastructure for the Fieldhouse and CASL Building

Along with an effort to reduce the campus’ dependence on fossil fuels, flooding is probably the other big way climate change is currently impacting ��-Dearborn. With our proximity to the Rouge River and flat topography, the campus is already vulnerable to flooding, and the more intense storms brought on by climate change are only increasing our risk. A prime example: In June 2021, a historic precipitation event dumped six inches of rain in 24 hours — the third 100-year-storm in the last 10 years — leading to major flooding in the Fieldhouse and CASL Building. As a result, Glick’s team redesigned the stormwater mitigation system around these buildings, starting with the Fieldhouse, which was a particularly tricky challenge given that the gym is, like a basement, well below grade. Led by project manager Emily Hamilton, crews completed a new pump system which collects excess water underneath the gym floor and then transfers it to large pipes in the nearby parking lot. As a last line of defense, crews also installed an emergency barrier system, which features quick-to-install locking metal panels to keep water from getting through the most vulnerable exterior doors. The CASL Building is getting the flood prevention treatment next, though Glick says that’s a far easier project. It will mainly involve enlarging several stormwater pipes that led to bottlenecks during the 2021 flood.

An overhaul for the campus recycling program

Recycling is likely one of the most ubiquitous sustainability activities, but it’s also one of the most problematic, especially when it comes to plastics. Single-stream recycling — where you throw all your recycling in one bin — is convenient for the consumer, but it introduces major issues downstream. Recyclable items often get contaminated, different materials have to be separated from each other and non-recyclables have to be removed. The sad reality is that much of what you put in the recycle bin actually ends up in the landfill. “We don’t just want to say we’re recycling and then just count the number of bags that we’re putting into our recycling containers,” Glick says. “We really want to understand how much is actually being recycled and diverted from the waste stream.” This summer, Sustainability Programs Coordinator Grace Maves led an audit and redesign of the campus recycling system, which among other things, yielded new, easier-to-understand signage indicating what can go in the recycling bin and what should go in the trash. You might find some of the tips surprising, like the fact that compostable plastics actually shouldn’t be put in with recyclables (though there are other ways to deal with these items). It might be painful to throw them away, but this will help us reduce contamination, which yields recycling that can actually be recycled. Look for the new “what goes where” signage this fall.

New light pole banners

One non-infrastructure project to look out for this fall: New light pole banners that are going up this week. The banners feature the university’s new brand tagline “Dreams in Practice,” which was developed as part of a branding research campaign completed in 2022. The photos on the banners highlight diverse examples of practice-based learning, a campuswide initiative you can read about in the new issue of Legacy magazine. Other banners feature the latest class of Difference Makers and student-athletes.

What’s on deck

While this summer’s updates might not have been super glamorous, what’s coming next is. Glick says this fall, her team is beginning the design process for the major renovation of the Renick University Center and Mardigian Library, the flagship project of the new comprehensive campus plan which we wrote about earlier this summer. The goal is to transform the RUC and library into a central hub for all core student and academic services. Both buildings will also get several new social spaces where students, faculty and staff can hang out, work and collaborate. The plan also calls for a transformation of the underutilized space between the buildings into a parklike setting for studying, socializing, relaxing, eating, tabling and community events.

###

Story by Lou Blouin

Nature or Environment

Sustainability

University-wide

Facilities Operations

Off

Mon, 08/21/2023 - 17:15

A stormwater upgrade to protect key buildings from flooding, a new-look recycling program and more LED lighting retrofits were among the updates facilities teams hustled to complete this summer.

In June 2021, a 100-year storm flooded the CASL Building atrium, pictured here. This summer, facilities crews were hard at work on upgrades to the stormwater system that will protect the CASL Building and the Fieldhouse from future flooding.

How a campus educator is helping create a sustainable future

stuxbury — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 18:49:23 +0000

How a campus educator is helping create a sustainable future stuxbury Mon, 06/26/2023 - 14:49

Let me tell you about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees. Or rather, you should hear about these and the unique importance each plays in the world from ��-Dearborn’s Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer.

Not only does McLeer have 30 years experience, she was also recently honored for her teaching talent by the National Association for Interpretation. McLeer is the NAI 2023 Distinguished Professional Interpreter for the Great Lakes region. The professional award is presented to a respected interpreter who has demonstrated an impact in the field.

Taking groups on guided tours around ��-Dearborn’s trails, McLeer pulls out all the creative stops to help people retain information. She sings songs. She’s got jokes. She makes word associations. McLeer does whatever it takes to connect people with new information.

For example, here’s how she helps learners know what a radula is: “A radula is like a tongue. Mollusks use it to help them get food, like algae, by scraping things. When snails use theirs, they are like the vacuum cleaners of the pond — and that’s pretty rad.”

Dorothy McLeer

McLeer also has participants touch tree bark and make observations. They search for wildlife tracks and guess what animal may have made them. They listen and look for birds. Interpretive techniques are based on revelation. “Brain-based research shows that If you are able to use your senses and connect new knowledge to things you already know, it helps you make connections in a way that ties in experience and emotion,” McLeer said. “Relating information to students’ lives so there is meaning to the new information, makes it relevant to their lives. Emotional connections are stored in the brain’s long-term memory.”

McLeer’s such a natural (pun intended) that it seems like she always knew this was the right path for her. But she said she didn’t discover the environmental education field until she was an adult in her 30s. Working in retail and studying at Oakland Community College to be a teacher, she attended a Detroit Audubon awards event — fate would have it that she unknowingly sat at the same table as awardee William B. Stapp, the ��-Ann Arbor professor emeritus who is considered the founder of environmental education.

“I told him that I was studying to be a teacher and hoped I could teach science. Then he put two words together that I never heard in a sentence: environmental education. He explained to me what it was. It was a light that went on for me,” said McLeer, who said the field places an importance on educating all ages about their environment in an effort to develop a respect for nature and preservation. “That conversation was on a Saturday night. On Monday, I was in my school counselor's office changing my plans.”

McLeer learned about the ��-Dearborn environmental studies program started by Professor Orin Gelderloos and transferred. She first worked as a student naturalist and then became a full-time staff member after graduation. McLeer has since earned her graduate degree, along with publishing chapters in books, giving public lectures, teaching college classes and leading educational programs around the campus’ 120-acre Environmental Study Area.

During 2023 alone, more than 4500 K-12 school children have attended programs McLeer helped run. After a tour on May 22, third grader Joey from St. Pius Catholic School drew a picture of cattails, thanked McLeer for the fun walk and even pledged to become a future Wolverine. He wrote, “I already wanted to go to ��-Dearborn and now I will definitely go.”

McLeer said helping kids explore the outdoors is a highlight in her role. With climate concerns and species extinction, McLeer said it’s important that the next generation see how their actions can impact the world around them. To help do that, McLeer also inspires minds in her ��-Dearborn college classroom to find entertaining and efficient methods that blend science and education so that future educators can bring forth that awareness.

Alum Griffin Bray is part of the upcoming generation of professional naturalist educators. He met McLeer when he was nine years old as a participant in the EIC’s Young Naturalist Program in the mid-2000s. McLeer led many of his adventure-filled sessions.

He’s the one who nominated McLeer for the Distinguished Professional Interpreter Award.

Griffin Bray leading an EIC tour in a 2019 file photo

As a child, Bray didn’t recall her name exactly, but he held on to the lessons learned from McLeer and a love of ��-Dearborn’s campus trails stayed with him. The 2020 ��-Dearborn graduate earned his NAI-certified interpretive guide credential through McLeer’s Environmental Interpretation course as an undergrad and is now a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Inspired by his former teacher, Bray said, “She’s helped shape who I am today. As an environmental interpreter, I am able to work not only with the natural environment, but also with the community to engage people with their surroundings, provoke a deeper connection to the place, and provide them with a way to understand the natural world on their own terms.”

Joining an EIC team meeting via Zoom in the spring, Bray shared the award news. McLeer said she was shocked and delighted — both to see Bray and to learn about the award.

Three decades into her career, McLeer said having one of her students going into the field nominate her was a “full-circle moment” that told her that she’s on the right path — a path filled with birds, bees, flowers and trees. And one that is educating people to take a moment and notice what’s happening right outside of their doors.

“I have been so fortunate to have colleagues who are also friends, and are dedicated and passionate about what we do. For the last 30 years I’ve done something that has meaning — not just for me or the people that I am lucky to encounter, but meaning for where we live. It’s something that I take very seriously, but I have a heck of a good time doing it.”

Text by Sarah Tuxbury.

Awards

Faculty and Staff

Nature or Environment

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Environmental Interpretive Center

Off

Mon, 06/26/2023 - 18:48

Environmental Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer, who’s taught on campus for 30 years, is honored by the National Association for Interpretation for her environmental education efforts.

Photo of ��-Dearborn's Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer, right, with student naturalist Valerie Osowski in campus' rain garden. Photos/Sarah Tuxbury

'Art is a bridge to learning'

stuxbury — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 17:41:04 +0000

'Art is a bridge to learning' stuxbury Wed, 03/15/2023 - 13:41

Dental students often take art classes, like calligraphy, for finger dexterity. Engineers and architects use illustration to visually highlight their projects to audiences. And studying art improves bedside manner — research found that medical students who study art are better able to interpret the emotional expressions on patients' faces.

“Art is a bridge to learning. These are just a few examples to show that you do not need to be an art major to benefit from studying art,” said Lecturer Madeleine Barkey, who teaches in the applied art/art history program. “Art also has a wellness component that will benefit you at work and at home. It gives us ways to express ourselves and alleviate stress.”

In short, art benefits everyone. And so does nature. Thinking about these two universally available mental health boosters, Barkey wanted to connect them to show students how closely aligned the two are.

To do this, Barkey created the course ART 327: Scientific Illustration. Students worked closely with subjects related to geology, biology and botany. For their last project, they created a layered anatomy of an animal.

“Students in the class majored in biomedical engineering, environmental science, psychology, pre-health disciplines and more,” Barkey said. “They didn’t all see themselves as art students and were concerned that they wouldn’t deliver. By the end of the course, they were amazed at the level of work they produced."

Art in the Scientific Illustration Showcase by Bella Porbe and Keziah Eggert. Photo/Sarah Tuxbury

Barkey, who wanted to expand her student’s experience beyond the university’s art studio, worked with ��-Dearborn’s Environmental Interpretive Center. The EIC provided the students with resources when they needed samples and references. Barkey and EIC then partnered with the class to showcase the work. The art exhibit “Scientific Illustration” is on display in the EIC’s lobby now through the end of April. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

EIC Program Supervisor Rick Simek said he’s impressed with the caliber of work in the show and encourages the campus community to take a look.

Simek also wants ��-Dearborn community members to know that EIC staff is available to share hands-on nature and environmental studies lessons and the EIC team welcomes ideas for course collaboration. “We are here as a resource for professors and students. We have classroom space, an observation room and acres of natural areas. Our natural areas have lessons that change by season, so there’s a lot of ground we can cover.” Interested? Let the EIC staff know.

Senior Alexis Kott is a student in the Scientific Illustration class. The urban and regional studies major dreams of designing cities and neighborhoods. And she is especially passionate about bringing green spaces to heavily developed areas.

Growing up in northern Michigan, Kott said the woods were just steps from her home. She’d birdwatch with her grandmother and hike with her father. And sometimes she’d be inspired to draw. A lily pad painting in grade school ended up in an art show at her local museum.

With her dad’s military career, Kott moved around a bit. With each move, she began to realize the lakes and woods that inspired her as a child weren’t a universal experience. She saw factories that lined bodies of water and neighborhood streets that had much more gray than green.

“We need nature to live. If we embrace it, nature can provide a lot. It reduces pollution and improves mental health. If you don’t consider the environment when planning, there are consequences like poor air quality, flooding and decreased health outcomes,” Kott said. “Everyone should have access to parks, trees and greenspaces. One of my professional goals is to help make that happen.”

Kott, an applied art minor, said she uses art skills she’s learned from Barkey’s classes in her work. In addition to the Scientific Illustration course, Kott also took Barkey’s intermediate drawing class that allowed her to focus on her own interests, like architectural and perspective drawing.

Alexis Kott draws birds that she sees outside of the EIC observation room.

Kott said potential employers in the city planning industry have told her that they like how she merges art and function. At a recent Michigan Association of Planning Conference, Kott interacted with city managers and planners. She’d talk about green infrastructure ideas for a community and share some of her artwork.

“Art is important in the urban planning field because it’s a language that helps people understand future projects no matter your age or background,” Kott said. “Even if your community members speak different languages, art can help communicate an idea clearly.”

But until graduation comes, Kott connects communities with nature by serving as a student naturalist at the EIC. She takes out elementary student groups to teach them about the land and nature’s benefits. She birdwatches with them in the observation room and even shows them her sketches.

A group of children on a field trip to the EIC recently told Kott that they’d never seen the woods. She said there was wonder in their faces as they looked for wildlife and viewed tapped maple trees that dripped sap for syrup.

Kott said she’s proud to be on a campus that provides that type of education and experience. After graduation, Kott’s goal is to take the lessons she’s learned from her time at ��-Dearborn and meet communities where they are by creating spaces outside of their homes that will evoke wonder, promote wellness and possibly even inspire a future career.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Arts

Nature or Environment

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Environmental Interpretive Center

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

Off

Wed, 03/15/2023 - 17:40

In the new Scientific Illustration art course, Dearborn Wolverines created pieces that focused on biology, botany and geology — and discovered how art can advance careers in health, conservation and more.

Senior Alexis Kott has multiple works of art on display in the Scientific Illustration Showcase, which is up through the end of April in the EIC lobby. Photo/Sarah Tuxbury

One sweet campus tradition: Making Michigan maple syrup

stuxbury — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 17:46:15 +0000

One sweet campus tradition: Making Michigan maple syrup stuxbury Wed, 02/15/2023 - 12:46

A squirrel ran across a maple tree’s large branch, stopped near the end and plopped down for a snack. Its nibble of choice? The maple tree’s leaf buds. Most people might not notice an animal grabbing a bite to eat in the tree canopy. But ��-Dearborn’s Environmental Study Area Program Manager Rick Simek has a sense about these things.

Sitting at an outdoor picnic table, Simek said he’s unsure of the impact this year’s warmer Michigan winter will have on the trees’ sap production. Simek then paused and then squinted to get a better look at movement in the trees. “Some animals have sweet tooths, just like we do. That squirrel is eating the maple buds. If the squirrel thinks those are pretty tasty, that’s a good sign,” Simek said. “It tells us that the sap is moving around in the tree and it’s time to tap.”

That’s an especially good thing for ��-Dearborn’s long-standing campus maple syrup collecting tradition. On Saturday, Feb. 18, community members are invited to help the university’s Environmental Interpretive Center staff tap 50 maples to begin the sap collection process. Volunteers can also help hang sap buckets — basically round tin structures with a bent lid — on the trees too. Interested in the all-ages event? Sign up.

“We enjoy sharing this beautiful part of our campus with the public to experience traditional seasonal activities that go back a long, long time in our part of the world,” Simek said. In addition to the tapping activity, Simek said people will learn how to identify non-leafed sugar and black maple trees and other distinguishing characteristics about maples. They’ll also hear about the maple syrup-making process and its history on the land.

Here’s a taste of information volunteers will get at Saturday’s program.

In this 1980s photo, Cathy (Schmidt) Bean, '84, and then EIC Program Manager Mike Hayes, '78, make maple syrup on campus.

Maple syrup collecting officially started as a campus community event in 1984. But the trees were tapped to make syrup years prior to that.

Simek: “We are lucky to live in an area where the climate is just right for tapping maple trees and making syrup and we have many sugar and black maple trees on campus. We do 50 trees each year and are careful not to over tap them — that’s why we rotate every few years or so.

We know there was a forest of maples by the Henry Ford Estate that Henry tapped for syrup right after he and Clara bought the land in 1908. Maple syrup making is mentioned in a 1911 book by Jefferson Butler, who did bird surveying for the Fords. He said how much he enjoyed watching the process. Some of those original maples that the Fords tapped are still there, but most are newer. They are descendants of the Ford’s sugar bush (that’s what we call a group of maple trees used for maple syrup).

Of course, Indigenous people on the land tapped trees for the sap hundreds of years prior to that. We don’t have an exact record to point to, but we know maple syrup is distinctly North American and that Indigenous peoples were using it as a staple food when the Europeans arrived.”

EIC staff member Rick Simek, right, pours maple sap into the outdoor kitchen as children watch the maple syrup making process.

If you want to grow your own sugar bush, you need to plan ahead.

Simek: ““The adage goes that people who plant trees are working for their children and grandchildren. That is certainly true with sugar maples and black maples. If you plant saplings this year it would be 40 to 50 years before the trees were big enough to tap — and about 100 years before they were big enough for two buckets.

I don’t ever want to discourage anyone from planting a tree, but people should know it’s a natural process that takes a bit of time, just like many of life’s best things. So you won’t be able to collect your own sap anytime soon.

That’s why we invite people to come do this with us. We want people and families to have this experience. It will go beyond February 18 too. For two or so weeks after our tree-tapping event, we invite volunteers to help us collect the sap. We do collection around 4 p.m. daily, depending on conditions. That’s where we bring the buckets from the trees to where our sap chefs will later turn it into syrup. Sample tastes of syrup are available to anyone who drops by our syrup kitchen while it's being prepared.” Want to help empty sap buckets? If you are interested in joining a volunteer corps for a hike out to the sugar bush, please let the EIC staff know on this form.

The syrup will be available to buy in March.

Simek: “We cannot just take our pancakes up to a tree and top them with syrup. It takes 35 to 40 gallons of sap from sugar maples or black maples to make one gallon of maple syrup.

That’s because it’s mostly water — and like 2-to-4% sugar. The sap is like water that tastes just a little bit sweet. When we boil it in our outdoor kitchen, which removes the water through evaporation, we get a natural treat: yummy syrup. On average, we collect 480 to 500 gallons of sap — which is about 12 gallons of syrup. We then bottle it in small containers (250ml) to sell. When it’s ready, an order form will be available on the EIC website. I’m partial, but our syrup is really good stuff — and we know exactly where it comes from right down to the trees.”

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Nature or Environment

Volunteer or Community Service

Environmental Interpretive Center

Off

Wed, 02/15/2023 - 17:46

Dress for the weather — the forecast says 47 degrees and sunny — and come to ��-Dearborn on Saturday. You’re invited to take part in a favorite seasonal activity.

EIC staff member Rick Simek leads a maple tree tapping lesson to younger EIC explorers. During maple syrup season, approximately 1,000 children on school field trips visit the center. Photo by Sarah Tuxbury

This edible landscape is one of ��-Dearborn’s best-kept secrets

rudmehta — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 18:16:59 +0000

This edible landscape is one of ��-Dearborn’s best-kept secrets rudmehta Wed, 11/30/2022 - 13:16

It’s probably not such a bad thing the on-campus orchard and garden is tucked along a less-traveled stretch of sidewalk on the east side of the Natural Sciences Building. After all, if it had been located within picking distance of a major campus thruway, it’s easy to see how the apples, wild strawberries and blueberries might succumb to an everyday gauntlet of faculty, staff and student foragers.

While some grazing might be inevitable, Director of Facilities Planning Kate Pepin expects most of the produce to reach its intended destination: the ��-Dearborn Student Food Pantry.

And though it may be a few years before they’re collecting big-time harvests for students, she and a team of volunteers who help maintain the garden have designed the site with longevity in mind. Unlike most gardens in northern climates, which typically rely on annual crops that are harvested through the summer and fall, this orchard is built on the idea of permaculture—an approach to agriculture designed around sustainability and self-sufficiency.

For example, Pepin and the team have chosen a balance of plantings that favors lower-maintenance edible perennials. They sometimes take a few years to get established, but they’ll produce year after year without need for replanting. The blueberries are one of those crops, along with the cranberries, ginger, a cold-tolerant variety of kiwi, and several kinds of apples. Underneath the branches of the latter, there’s also a thick mat of tenacious wild strawberries, which they’re planning to complement with an everbearing variety this year. Pepin said that kind of “layering” is another hallmark of permaculture plantings and allows them to grow more food in less space.

Throughout the garden, you’ll see another key permaculture principle on display—companion planting—which clusters crops that like living side by side.

“When we plant garlic this fall, it will be next to the roses because garlic and roses grow well together,” Pepin explained. Those roses are edible too; as are the hibiscus and violets they’re planning to add to the garden this summer.

As the garden fills in, so are the ranks of volunteers and staff who are lending a hand. Pepin said Jeanette Whiting, ��-Dearborn’s veteran master gardener, has brought her effort and expertise to the project and helped shepherd the garden through that critical first year. And this season, a small group of students is pitching in to handle summer weeding, watering and harvesting.

“For me, as a political science major, one of the things you study is environmental issues and sustainability,” said senior Ashleigh Schoeninger. “So it’s pretty cool to see a real example of that. I think everyone should have access to food that’s not contaminated with pesticides and toxins.”

Volunteering at the garden was personal for health policy studies senior Fannetta Watson. Last year, she decided to leave her job in order to make time for her studies, and the student food pantry helped fill in some gaps when money got tight.

“I’d walked past that area before, and I never even knew that was a garden,” Watson said. “But when Kate [Pepin] explained what was going on there, I was really excited to do something. That little bit of space can feed a lot of people.”

Pepin and the team aren’t expecting a super bountiful harvest for at least another year or two, but as the garden matures, she hopes it can indeed add a meaningful amount of hyper-local fresh foods to the shelves of the student food pantry. And if you’re a tempted forager, there’s still a way for you to have a taste. Pepin said a little grazing is an assumed perk for anyone who helps with the harvest.

Experiential Learning

Nature or Environment

Volunteer or Community Service

Off

Mon, 06/18/2018 - 05:00

The low-maintenance permaculture orchard and garden is growing fresh produce—for a good cause.

��-Dearborn students Fannetta Watson and Ashleigh Schoeninger are among the student volunteers who are lending a hand to the university’s permaculture orchard this summer.

Nature or Environment

University fellowship aims to create 'dream team of sustainability'

Plan a trip to the lake

The lake and its history

The stone bridge and steps along the lake

The tree trail and a ‘fallen giant’

Yellow flowers, conservation efforts and Eagle Scout projects

Intriguing sites just steps from the classroom

The greenspace between Fair Lane Lake to the Henry Ford Estate

A century-old terrace

The rose garden

The south side bridge

Downtown West Dearborn

The fish ladder

������-Dearborn is infusing sustainability into its engineering programs

Get outdoors and explore

The fuchsia-flowered tree near the picnic tables at the EIC

A caged plant on the side of the lake

The area formerly known as Clara Ford’s Rose Garden

The stone bridge

Upcoming walks

Campus got some big infrastructure updates this summer

LED lighting, a new roof for the RUC and more

New stormwater infrastructure for the Fieldhouse and CASL Building

An overhaul for the campus recycling program

New light pole banners

What’s on deck

How a campus educator is helping create a sustainable future

'Art is a bridge to learning'

One sweet campus tradition: Making Michigan maple syrup

Maple syrup collecting officially started as a campus community event in 1984. But the trees were tapped to make syrup years prior to that.

If you want to grow your own sugar bush, you need to plan ahead.

The syrup will be available to buy in March.

This edible landscape is one of ������-Dearborn’s best-kept secrets

��-Dearborn is infusing sustainability into its engineering programs

This edible landscape is one of ��-Dearborn’s best-kept secrets