Wisconsin Phenological Society

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

µ  Tel: (414) 229-3740 h Fax: (414) 229-3981
µ  Email: mds@uwm.edu
µ  Homepage: www.naturenet.com/alnc/wps

2005 - Newsletter

Contents:

Spring Meeting
Message from the President
Natural History Workshops
Phenology on the Web
Membership

WPS Annual Spring Meeting
Please join us for our Annual Spring Meeting

on Thursday, May 19th, 2005
From 10:00 a.m. until Noon

Northview 040 (Zoology Lab)
UWC-Waukesha
Directions to the room will be posted at the building entrance.

Message from the President

The National Phenological Network (NPN) web pages were officially launched in December of 2004! Please visit the site at http://www.npn.uwm.edu for more details. The pages of the site allow access to lilac data collected across the USA since 1956, complete instructions and guidelines for observing lilacs or appropriate native species in all parts of the USA, as well as web-based data submission forms that make sending in phenological data quick and easy. Please consider registering and participating in NPN as well as WPS.

Progress in the development of the NPN began to accelerate rapidly in late 2004. First, I was appointed to the Climate Change sub-committee of the National Ecological Observation Network (NEON) Design Consortium. We have had two planning meeting for this network so far in 2005, with a third planned for June. Phenology is being embraced by the NEON planning process, and the NPN concept is emerging as a priority. Second, with the help of a few key colleagues, we are planning a workshop that will be held in August to develop a plan for NPN implementation. I expect this event to be funded by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from several federal government agencies. Key goals will be to refine the scientific mission of NPN, and develop a long-term support program. Ideally, the current network of more than 11,000 cooperative weather observers across the USA will be encouraged to also participate in NPN. Closer to home, I would very much like to include a geographically distributed set of sites in Wisconsin as a subset of NPN that could contribute long-term observations. If you are associated with a nature center or other similar organization in the State and are interested in this, please contact me.

Lastly, I’d like to remind you that your observations are extremely useful to the scientific community. Please consider becoming a fully active member of the Society, by recording and reporting phenological observations. As part of the NPN pages, I plan to develop a web-based form for WPS observations, to make data submission to the Society easier than ever. As always, your support of the Society and its objectives is greatly appreciated.

2004 Natural History Workshops
at the UWM Field Station

These workshops offer an opportunity to study focused topics at college-level instruction under the guidance of noted authorities.  Most workshops present two full days of instruction, with housing and meals available at the Station.

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. 

The 2005 workshop schedule includes the following courses:

µ Vegetation of Wisconsin
Instructor: James Reinartz
June 20 - 25 (Monday—Saturday)
Fee: $375

µ Biology of Insects
Instructors: Gretchen Meyer and Helen Hull-Sanders
22 & 23 July (Friday & Saturday)
Fee $75

µ Beetles: Identification and Ecology
Instructor: Dan Young
5 & 6 August (Friday & Saturday)
Fee $75

µ Composites: Taxonomy and Evolution
Instructor: Robert Kowal
19 & 20 August (Friday & Saturday)
Fee $75

µ Wetland Delineation
Instructor: Don Reed
9 & 10 September (Friday & Saturday)
Fee $75

µ Birds, Migration and Bird Banding
Instructor: Vicki Piaskowski
16 & 17 September (Friday & Saturday)
Fee $75

µ Applied Ecological Hydrology 
Instructor: John Bell
7 & 8 October (Friday & Saturday)
Fee $75

To Register:

www.uwm.edu/Dept/fieldstation

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Field Station
3095 Blue Goose Road
Saukville, WI 53080
Phone: 262 675-6844
Fax: 262 675-0337
email: fieldstn@uwm.edu
Contact: Gretchen Meyer

Phenology on the World Wide Web:

The world wide web is full of phenological possibilities. Check out the following links:

• WPS Website Homepage
• National Phenological Network
• ATTRA - from the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
• Phenology in the classroom - Journey North
• Phenology for children and families - DNR's EEK! Website
• Resources for educators & families throughout Wisconsin - Nature Net - sign up for a free seasonal on-line newsletter for parents & grandparents!

Membership Information

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.

Please send your name, address, and which of the following actions you would like to take:

• $2 for 2005/06 dues

• $___ as further contribution to the work of the Society

• $50 Lifetime Membership

• Please delete my name from the membership list

• Please send me information regarding programs of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters

Click above to view the
WPS Membership Information Statement
(requires adobe acrobat reader)

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