Another portion of our ELP project consisted of supporting WREN with local events and celebrations. During Bike Day, which occurred on June 2nd, we staffed a table that held the pelts, skulls, and scat of creatures that can be found in the West Eugene Wetland. We shared our knowledge with cyclists of all ages who stopped along the trail to get a glimpse of a beaver pelt, examine an otter skull, or analyze some fake deer scat.

We also assisted with WREN’s informational booths and tables at other events, such as the WREN benefit concert at Cosmic Pizza, the Wings and Wine festival, and the Earth Day celebration at EWEB. We answered questions about WREN and the West Eugene Wetlands, talked about the “wetland recipe” with children, and helped distribute information about upcoming events.

Family Wetlands Exploration Day was an informal educational event held on May 19th that consisted entirely of lesson plans that we had written during our winter term ELP class. We invited children of the community and their families to participate in any portion of the event - for an hour-long segment or for the whole day to experience the diverse topics and activities. As May 19th was a busy day all over Eugene, with outdoor events planned by many different organizations and groups, we didn’t receive the audience we had hoped. This resulted in the cancellation of Kids Day after only two programs. Although we are disappointed we didn’t get to share our lesson plans, the team learned a lot about planning informal events from this experience.