Today was divided into three areas: 1) academics, 2) nature, and 3) community. We began the day on UC’s campus, visiting the Environmental Studies course taught by Dr. Laura Zanotti and Professor Teri Jacobs.
Allison Cabrera, Lizzy Baxter, and Adriana Santacruz-Castro shared their work from ‘Mauka to Makai’, focusing on birds and plants of the mountain to the coral reef in the ocean. Then Sabra Kauka spoke about her experiences in dialogue with Ella Marcil.
Afterward, the group headed to the offices of the School of Environment and Sustainability and had a chance to chat and engage in conversation.
Next, we visited the lab of Dr. Ron Canterbury who shared with us his work on bird strikes on UC’s campus. He shared the work of the student volunteers and the UC Ornithology Club as they assist in banding birds and doing surveys of the UC campus of bird strikes. Today was a special day as he was able to recover a bird who had hit a window and release it back into the wild in Burnet Woods.
Next we spent the afternoon connecting with nature at the Twin Creek Preserve with the Mill Creek Alliance. Bennett Kotler, Restoration Director, and Fionna provided an engaging experience, sharing about the smells, tastes, and textures of the plants and trees that grow in the southwest Ohio region, and in particular in the Twin Creek Preserve.
One of our favorite treats was the Brown Butter Cake made with Paw Paw fruit, a tree that can be found in the Preserve and nicknamed the Appalachian banana. Afterwards, we walked the half mile path around the wetlands of the Twin Creek Preserve. We observed butterflies, grasshoppers, and turtles as we talked about the asters, golden rod, paw paw trees, buckeye trees, and various oak trees throughout the preserve.
Finally, we traveled to the Contemporary Art Center where we attended the art exhibition opening party featuring work created by Indigenous artists as part of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Convergence of the Urban Native Collective. We enjoyed music spun from DJ Creepingbear and watched the performance of the Copper Face United Powwow Troupe. We were delighted to dance with the performers as they led those attending in a circle dance to end their performance. It was truly an inspiring evening.
We look forward to the Bird Walk at Burnet Woods tomorrow and to attending the film and speaker series as another part of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Convergence. We will also be having our dress rehearsal tomorrow for the live performance on Sunday.
