Category Archives: Water

Volunteer in Service to America

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by Kelly Harris

IMG_0146For the past two years I have been a Volunteer in Service to America (a.k.a., a VISTA) through Americorp. Creating in 1965, the VISTA program was the brainchild of John F. Kennedy to be the domestic counterpart of the Peace Corps.

The VISTA program’s mission is to bring individuals and communities out of poverty. To accomplish this, VISTA has focused on building the organizational, administrative, and financial capacity of organizations that fight illiteracy, improve health services, foster economic development, and otherwise assist low-income communities (more on that here).

For my VISTA fellowship I was placed at the Center For Urban Ecology (CUE) at Butler University to work on the Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) collective impact initiative. This might seem like an odd site for a VISTA since there is no obvious connection to poverty — actually, it is. My placement, the first for CUE, was novel for the Indiana’s VISTA program and it was its first time to have a VISTA focus on environmental stewardship.

My charge as a VISTA has been to “contribute to improvement of economically disadvantaged communities and at-risk ecosystems in proximity to Indianapolis’ six major waterways by…developing new community engagement initiatives, and communicating the importance of the waterways.” I have accomplished this by helping build the organizational and administrative capacity of the ROW initiative.

Yet my primary role with ROW has been as metric manager, overseeing the development and implementation of a shared measurement system that tracks common outcomes indicators across the initiative. The results are then used to inform learning and continuous improvement. This role has provided me with many opportunities and experience over the last two years, from wading through Indianapolis’ waterways to presenting at regional workshops.

Currently, I am working on developing ROW’s Citizen Scientist Team to enable local residents to get involved and to assist with data collection on how ROW is impacting the local waterways and surrounding communities. This team of volunteers will have a variety of activities such as conducting stream assessments, walkability surveys, and observational surveys of how ROW’s destination locations are being put to use. You can fill out this interest form if you are interested in being a ROW Citizen Scientist!

My position as a VISTA Fellow with the CUE is coming to a close at the beginning of August. It is bittersweet to see this formative chapter of my life close but it has led me to an exciting new chapter in my life. While the fellowship is ending my relationship with the CUE and ROW is simply evolving. I have been will continue working with ROW as its metric manager and waterway coordinator. And with the CUE as a pivotal ROW partner, I will maintain a strong connection with the center and its wonderful staff!

Kelly Harris, MSES/ MPA, is an Americorps SPEA-VISTA Fellow at the Center for Urban Ecology.

Invasion of the Lonicera maacckii!

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by Kelly Harris

Little green men are not invading Indy, but a more covert green invader has infiltrated the city… Lonicera maacckii. With a name like that it might as well be from another planet.  Lonicera maacckii is the scientific name, but it’s also known as Amur or bush honeysuckle. Yes, honeysuckle, the sweet-smelling flowering bush has invaded Indy and many other cities across the eastern United States.

Ivy Tech View Before

View of Ivy Tech before removal of bush honeysuckle in 2012.

But this invasion shouldn’t be taken lightly. This aggressive, exotic plant causes ecological, economic and social impacts to the area it inhabits.

Bush honeysuckle is an exotic species because it’s native to central and northeastern China. It was first brought to the United States by a horticulturalist in 1896 and quickly became a popular ornamental plant due to its high flower and fruit production.

The eastern U.S. and China have a similar climate, which has enabled bush honeysuckle to naturalize (i.e., successfully reproduce in the wild of its non-native range) and spread. While the U.S. has the climate to allow bush honeysuckle to thrive, it does not have the same pest, diseases or predators to keep honeysuckle in check, thus, it has become invasive. Bush honeysuckle is especially pervasive in cities like Indianapolis for the bush honeysuckle prefers edge and disturbed habitats; this makes urban areas an ideal habitat.

Like many other invasive species, bush honeysuckle significantly impairs the health and integrity of the ecosystem it invades. In disturbed forest such as a floodplain or urban woodlot, bush honeysuckle will take over the understory by displacing the native shrubs, saplings and seedlings. It out-competes native plants because it leafs out earlier in the spring and retains them long in the fall. Bush honeysuckle also reduces the trees’ productivity and ability to regenerate by inhibiting seedling growth.

In addition, bush honeysuckle impacts wildlife by reducing the variety and quality habitat and food. Bush honeysuckle does produces an abundance of berries in autumn, but they are a poor food source for wildlife such as birds because they are high in carbohydrates but low in fat thus not providing the high-energy food source birds need to prepare for migration. This would be like eating a bunch of chips before you run a marathon!

After bush honeysuckle removal

View of Ivy Tech before after of bush honeysuckle in 2012.

In Indianapolis, bush honeysuckle is pervasive, especially along our waterways. It acts as a green wall usually hiding the waterway completely from view. In fall of 2012, this issue was put in the spotlight when the Reconnecting to Our Waterways initiative (in conjunction with Lilly Day of Service) executed a large-scale honeysuckle removal along Fall Creek.

The transformation was incredible. Not only did it improve the ecology of the area, but it also improved the aesthetics, provided an educational opportunity, connected people to the area and make them feel safer too.

Since then I have seen honeysuckle removal become top priority for communities and it has become something for people to rally around.

Kelly Harris, MSES/ MPA, is an Americorps SPEA-VISTA Fellow at the Center for Urban Ecology.

 

Making Nice with Money

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by Tim Carter

MakeChangeLogoMoney has always been, and will continue to be, a hard topic to write about. Wars are fought over it, it’s inherently exclusionary, and it’s one of those topics (like religion and politics) that you’re not supposed to discuss at a dinner party.

Many of us in the non-profit sector, as implied by that description, are not inherently driven by the desire for our organizations to make gobs of money; therefore, the relationship to funding is always one laced with tension. We need it to do what we do, but we strive to not let it drive our operations. To put together successful grant applications, like our recent one from the National Science Foundation, it takes a lot of partnerships, months of planning and conceptual development, and creativity to fit your proposed activities within the funder’s framework.

Which is why it’s so refreshing to encounter a program privately funded by Smallbox called “Nice Grants”. Nice Grants started in 2013 and the premise is simple: if you have a good idea that helps to improve the city, fill out a short application and potentially get $1,000 to make it happen.

CUE’s proposal, along with nine others, was selected for funding this year. Our project is to expand the “Make Change” initiative that we piloted in the Mid-North area of Indianapolis into all of Indy’s Midtown neighborhoods.

Make Change also directly engages the monetary system. When you do something good for your neighborhood’s environment, you earn community currency that can be redeemed at participating businesses.

Be on the lookout for the official launch of Make Change expansion this summer! In the meantime, if you see a coin with a logo that looks like this, you know that person has done something that improved their local environment. If you see a sign in a business that looks like this, you know the next time you receive one of those coins, you can redeem it at that business.

Nice Grants and Make Change are two ways to rethink how money can be used in service to community. When we are creative about the use of currency, it may help us operate out of a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity.

Tim Carter is director of the Center for Urban Ecology at Butler University.

Places and People We Encounter

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by Molly Trueblood

575248_10102433597058918_1805685920_nAs much as I try to keep my life spontaneous, I tend to fall into patterns. Wake up at the same time, bike the same route downtown, mow the yard on a certain day each week, eat at the same restaurant over and over. Sometimes it’s easier to do just what I’ve done before.

But recently I’ve been apt to explore new places I’ve never seen before, like the Burdsall Parkway fire station, or the Eagledale neighborhood. As I bike through these unfamiliar streets, I wonder, where do folks who live in these neighborhoods gather? How do they build community and ensure cohesion? Where are the hidden gems in this neighborhood?

Ray Oldenburg coined the concept of the “third place,” a gathering place that isn’t home or work. This is a place where folks go in their neighborhood to relax and connect with neighbors such as a park, a pub, a library, a community garden, or a religious institution. These spaces create opportunities to encounter folks we may or may not have met before, to have discussions and to spark new ideas. They help forge new and stronger links between individuals within a certain location.

There aren’t many third places in my neighborhood. There are a few churches, a great park, a few places to eat, and a soft-serve ice cream shop. But wouldn’t it be great if there were a place where activities were going on almost all the time? Music shows, art classes, dances, spoken-word performances and poetry readings, cooking demonstrations, a community garden, activities for the kids in the neighborhood.

Places like these exist around Indianapolis – some great examples are the Harrison Center for the Arts, Murphy Arts Building, the newly opened Grove Haus. In all of these places, arts are the sturdy backbone of the location, encouraging experimentation, exploration and creation in and around their physical walls.

The arts have a proven track record of successful revitalization, from community-centered art galleries in Detroit to economic development in California. In fact, the idea of creative placemaking is taking off around the country. Art seems like a good place to start if we want to encourage participation by neighbors, community ownership, and creative expression.

Reconnecting to Our Waterways has received a grant to encourage creative placemaking in Indianapolis, particularly in neighborhoods like Mapleton Fall Creek and West Indianapolis. Indianapolis waterways have been both integral and overlooked in our neighborhoods and it’s time that we encourage people to creatively reimagine their waterways as places for art, nature, beauty and recreation.

You can help in the planning process by participating in a waterway committee. Check out more information here. How will you transform your neighborhood’s overlooked assets into destinations for gathering, encountering, and creating with your neighbors?

Molly Truebood is community organizer with the Center for Urban Ecology working on the the Indianapolis/City as a Living Laboratory (I/CaLL) project.

Experience Nature Through Our Waterways

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by Kelly Harris

Waterstride

Waterstrider

As the sun filtered through the leaves warming my back and the cool water flowed around my ankles, I stooped to watch water striders dance along the surface of the stream – this was a common occurrence in my childhood. I grew up on a 400-acre dairy farm that has woods with a spring feed stream flowing through it. I would spend all my free time outside and it was here that I my love affair with nature began.

I nurtured this love through school. I earned my Bachelors of Science in Conservation Biology and then a Masters of Environmental Science in Applied Ecology. Now, I work at the Center for Urban Ecology (CUE). I could have gone down a much different path if it wasn’t for all the opportunities I had as a child to explore nature.

However, you don’t need to live out in the boonies or in the woods to experience nature, it is everywhere, even in a city (see Tim’s post for a more in-depth look into the ecology of a city).  Along waterways is one of the best places to interact with nature, especially in an urban setting, for waterways are a mecca for wildlife. Waterways provide water, food, shelter, and corridors for wildlife. Indianapolis has a multiple waterways flowing through it that are brimming with life and possibility.

Indianapolis’ waterways have been overlooked and neglected for years. They have been hidden by invasive plant species, used as dumping sites and polluted with sewage. Over the last several years, the Indianapolis community has join together to change the perception and treatment of the waterways through the formation of the Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) initiative.

ROW seeks to make Indianapolis’ waterways a community asset by “helping neighbors strengthen waterways, and in turn, helping waterways strengthen neighborhoods.” ROW is currently focusing on six waterways and their surrounding neighborhoods which are:

ROW takes a holistic approach to its work around Indianapolis’ waterways by integrating six elements. These elements are aesthetics, connectivity, ecology, economics, education and well-being. These elements function as lenses to craft solutions to problems and to developing projects and programs around the waterways. ROW’s holistic approach is essential to making Indianapolis’ waterways vibrant, safe and healthy destinations for people to experience nature in our city.

I feel providing people opportunities to experience nature no matter where they live – be it a city, the suburbs or a dairy farm – is a critical educational and developmental opportunity that could lead to better environmental stewards. As Baba Dioum says:

“In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught.”

So much of learning is through experience; you can’t learn about nature only through the Discovery Channel. You have to get out in it. Go explore one of Indianapolis’ many waterways and you might just see a heron, turtle or water striders. I have seen them all and more in Indy’s waterways!

Kelly Harris, MSES/ MPA, is an Americorps SPEA-VISTA Fellow at the Center for Urban Ecology.