A Round of Applause for UWL Students!

Beginning on October 12, a series of volunteer workdays kicked off. However, these were not typical workdays—they were attended by groups of UWL students from Dr. Jaspreet Kaur's Conservation Biology class. The 12th was followed by sessions on the 18th and 19th, and then again on 24th and 25th, all taking place on various prairies around the area. This initiative, organized by Dr. Kaur in collaboration with Friends of the Blufflands and the Coulee Region Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts, began with Pat Wilson and Jim Rogala delivering a presentation to the class about prairie ecosystems. With this foundation, the students were ready to "hit the slopes"!

The class consists of over 30 students, and as a requirement, each student had to dedicate 10 hours to these work days, totaling more than 300 hours. What an adventure it was for them! Some of them had no idea these prairies even existed. Many didn't expect to be creeping down steep slopes to work on the Hixon prairies, yet also be able to walk on the flat surface of the unique Holland Sand Prairie. They were unaware of the diverse array of prairie plants in their seed stage that they would encounter or that they would be immersed in learning about what makes a prairie special. And they didn't realize that those of us leading the effort were striving to be "contagious" in spreading our enthusiasm, hoping that at least some of them would "catch the prairie bug"!

Subsequently, another unexpected collaboration emerged with UWL through Andrew Ericson. As the Sustainability Program Manager at UWL, Andrew worked alongside Amanda Krafft, the Program Coordinator for Community Engagement and Belonging, recruiting students for a work day on the 26th. These students volunteered their time, participating in three 2-hour shifts from 9:00 to 3:00, with Andrew shuttling each shift to and from campus. A heartfelt thank you is extended to these volunteers!

Here is a photo of one group from Oct 12 on Stry Prairie on Miller Bluff:

And one from Lookout Prairie about to seed collect:

And Andrew with a few of his recruits:

Several individuals from both groups have signed up on our "volunteer list". We at Friends and the CRC express our sincere gratitude to these outstanding students and welcome them to return at any time. We look forward to continuing this partnership with UWL in the future!