Department of Geography U.W. Milwaukee
P.O. Box 413 § Milwaukee, WI 53201

Last year I reported that through Plantwatch, Canada has embarked on a program designed to build a national phenological observation system for that country. Since last year, I have been leading efforts to design a similar program for the United States. Up to now, support has been pledged by the National Climatic Data Center (Asheville, North Carolina) to build and maintain a web site to receive phenological observations, and planning is underway to designate the native plants that would be appropriate to observe in different parts of the country (the idea would be for stations to observe indicator plants, such as common or cloned lilacs, as well as 2-4 appropriate native plants). Unfortunately, I have not made much progress yet in cultivating a base of observers. I had hoped to get support from the National Weather Service, which would facilitate my contacting the several thousand volunteer weather observers across the country that constitute the “Coopertative Network” (they seem a logical group of individuals that would be interested in reporting phenological observations, especially since most of the fifty or so existing observers in my current “Eastern North American Phenology Network” are also COOP observers), but NWS has offered only limited assistance so far. So, I am adopting an “if you build it they will come” strategy, which means that I will plan to build the data “ingest” system with the help of the National Climatic Data Center, and then work on “getting out the word” to attract interested observers to commit to and use the reporting system. If you have any ideas about how to facilitate this plan, I’d be interested to hear them. I’ll continue to report progress on the U.S. National Phenological Network as it develops.

Closer to home, the Executive Committee of the Society has been discussing plans to create a “Wisconsin Phenological Network” that would include approximately a dozen stations, evenly distributed across the state, where commitments to long-term observations would be most likely (locations such as nature centers, university-related facilities, non-profit groups, and other such organizations). These plans are in the very early stages, so again, your input and support would be welcome. Lastly, please consider becoming a fully active member of the Society, by recording and reporting phenological observations this year, and in the years to come. As always, your support of the Society is greatly appreciated.

Mark D. Schwartz
President

Enrollment is limited to 20; the atmosphere is informal and instruction is individualized.  Workshops may be taken for graduate or undergraduate credit by enrolling in UWM, Topics in Field Biology. 

Please contact the Field Station for more information and a registration form, or visit our website at www.uwm.edu/Dept/fieldstation for full descriptions of each course, fee information, and a downloadable Registration Form. 

µ Sedges: Identification and Ecology
June 13 & 14 Instructor: Dr. Anton Reznicek

µ Lichens: Identification and Ecology
June 27 & 28 Instructor: Dr. Martyn Dibben

µ Biology of Insects
July 18 & 19 Instructor: Dr. Gretchen Meyer

µ Spiders: Identification and Ecology
Aug. 22 & 23 Instructor: Dr. Michael Draney

µ Composites: Taxonomy and Evolution
Aug. 29 & 30 Instructor: Dr. Robert Kowal

To Register:

Nature tends to change with great attention to season. This is not always the case with technology—seems there’s always something new popping up. Nature and technology can and do meet, however. Proof is in these websites regarding phenology:

www.attra.org/attra-pub/phenology.html (Excellent phenology education links)

www.naturenet.com (Resources for educators & families throughout Wisconsin)

Please support the Phenological Society’s objectives by paying annual dues or becoming a life member. Annual dues are used primarily to defray the mailing cost of our Newsletter.

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