Friends, we have been busy.
We discover and grow wildness within and all around us throughout the year. In the past few months, The Naturalist School has:
- Conducted learning-based biological surveys of plants, birds, fungi, odonates, and other taxa for conservation easements and nature preserves in eastern Nebraska and Iowa’s Loess Hills.
- Sponsored a series of workshops for poets and artists in wild places.
- Collected locally-wild seed for our native tree-planting projects.
- Established an arboretum in Omaha’s Old Market with the Downtown Improvement District.
- Helped home-owners create backyard habitats for birds and pollinators.
- Taught local ecology and planted trees with elementary school students.
- Created a “shack simple” Sunday residency series for wild writers in winter.
- Initiated a Pawnee oak preservation project on a historic sacred site.
- Presented nature-writing workshops with University of Nebraska at Omaha Master of Fine Arts students.
- Banded owls along the Kickatuus River.
- Welcomed and included artists-in-residence from the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in our various activities.
- Invited people from all walks to join us for quiet and contemplative walks (“Saunters”) in the Loess Hills and on the bluffs along the Platte River.
- Partnered with Tallgrass Prairie Oak Savanna Fire Science Consortium/University of Wisconsin on workshops for land managers.
- Hosted a tree-planting day at North Omaha’s Prospect Hill Cemetery with The Union for Contemporary Arts.
- Donated and planted wild native trees in local nature preserves
- Partnered with an Omaha high school to plant bird and pollinator outdoor classroom.
The Omaha Community Foundation has made it easier for our friends to join and support us. Help us discover and grow wildness in our communities and in our lives by making a donation here: https://www.omahagives.org/thenaturalistschool
But even more, come and join us in the bush!
Photo credits from top: Chelsea Balzer, Robert Smith, Max Soderberg.