WiWiC Conservation Camp Starts Tomorrow!
- Kriss Marion
- Jul 16
- 2 min read
It's time for Summer Camp!
Actually, we're extending camp beyond the summer this year because we have so many cool topics we've heard you want to explore. (And also because the spring was very chaotic for WiWiC, with funding terminations, staff layoffs, and much uncertainty:)
We're so excited to be hearing tomorrow from our great friend and frequent collaborator Julie Peterson, a Farm Bill Biologist in the NE region of Wisconsin. She'll be bringing her friend Debbie Boettcher, who is a prairie steward and landowner in Outagamie County. Together they'll be leading a discussion about new prairies - what it takes to care for them in the early years.
No matter your experience level, you are welcome to jump in on this FREE lunch Zoom! Come on to learn, to share your own knowledge, to get out of the heat for a while, and to connect with other like-minded women. These Zooms are always full of ideas, solutions, resources, and INSPIRATION!
Speaking of inspiration, check out the other topics we have lined up!
Many, many, many thanks to our WiWiC Western and SW Regional Coordinator Alanna Koshollek and our collaborators at Renewing the Countryside for supporting the Conservation Camp webinars. And of course, WiWiC is endlessly grateful to Michael Fields Agricultural Institute for funding WiWiC until we are able to find new dollars.
Speaking of grateful, we are SO grateful to YOU for supporting this project. Almost 100 of you have donated to Keep Our WiWiC Hive Alive! If you value the opportunity to meet with women land stewards, learn from women conservationists, and lift up the work of women on the land - Give $25 in 2025 or whatever you are able to keep the buzz going! Give $100 or more in July, and Michael Fields will send you a bag of their Perennial Kernza Cookie Mix! And Kriss Marion is designing some very special swag that's heading out to all of our monthly Sustaining Pollinators very soon.
If you've been attending WiWiC events for past four years, you know that this is a project that takes research, evaluation, and surveys VERY SERIOUSLY. In fact, the annual Conservation Camp webinar series is built around feedback we got the year before on what topics are of interest. But the very design of WiWiC learning circles is built from the feedback loop.
Now, we are designing a Participatory Action Research survey plan that we will send out to you soon to find out WHAT YOU NEED NOW. This is a type of research that Michael Fields Agricultural Institute has been doing for years with cover crop growers through the WI Cover Crop Data Network . We'll be looking to learn about your experiences in conservation, your failures and success, your goals and capacity, and what the challenges and opportunities are facing our conservation community. Together we'll design a program that helps us all help the land through this challenging time and into the next decade. Keep your eyes open!
