Dear readers,

I know it has been a long time since the last post, so thank you for coming back to read this new one. Today’s blog will be light and fun focusing on Erika and Matt’s favorite spots in Evanston! Maybe you share your favorite spot with either of them or will want to check out a new hangout location 🙂

What is your favorite spot in Evanston?

My favorite place in Evanston is Lighthouse Beach and actually most all of
Evanston’s lakefront. I think it is impossible to describe the importance of the Great Lakes and having such a tremendous natural resource so close by is very meaningful to me. Visiting the lake provides me a connection to nature I am usually missing in our urban community.

Erika, Program Coordinator

I really love the lakefront as well. It’s very unique and it’s something that we utilize as much as we can. Also just as a personal life thing like the beach because you have fun playing in the water and all that stuff. I also enjoy to work outside. I like the format space or nature, or small urban agricultural site. I like where the bikes are. I like going on some of the bike trails and paths around here. I like as much outside time as I can get in town. I utilize all of the spots that highlight that.

What is your favorite spot in Evanston? I know that I love utilizing the trail along the lake and exploring either on my feet or a bike. With spring around the corner, it will be a perfect time to get outside and use all the green space that Evanston has to offer.

Follow the EEA on:

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• Twitter: @EvanstonEnvAssn
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Written by: Kalina Gajda

Dear readers,

Happy February to you all! Thank you for checking out our newest blog post to stay up to date on your favorite neighborhood environmental resource, the Evanston Ecology Center.

How do you incorporate sustainability into your work?

We incorporate sustainability in almost everything we do! We reuse and recycle materials in most all of our programming and do not let many things go to waste. We also provide education to all of our staff about the expectation to be resourceful and try to make our programming as light on the environment as possible. We also regularly provide information to the community about how they can live a more sustainable
lifestyle.

Erika, Program Coordinator

I think along with just trying to reuse as much as we can from programming. I think we make it on maybe not necessarily a conscious effort to [reuse]. Like even a small subtopic inside of the program is that we talk about sustainable or conservation type practices that people can do to continue that message. We don’t have a specific goal that we pursue as far as nature or a certain amount of sustainability happens.

Matt, Program Coordinator

The people that want to work on Ecology Center, we already have a really sustainable mindset. Especially people who work here all year round. Something that we do is make seasonal staff knowledgeable as well. All the stuff that comes in for seasonal staff, they are working at a nature-based camp, but they’re not necessarily have that lifestyle ingrained. We make an effort to make sure that they know how important that is to our mission, and that they are representing the Ecology Center.

We really, really pound into them. We do composting lessons with them. We printed out charts for them about what to recycle and how to recycle. We make sure that recycling is happening at all of our camps. Even our largest camps because it’s really important to us. We try to make sure that all of our staff is knowledgeable and passing on that knowledge to everyone who comes to all of our programs.

Erika, Program Coordinator

Do you see like a change over from the seasonal workers start to the end of the program? How they build on their knowledge?

We present it during training and then we reinforce it. It’s something that we really need to reinforce like the first week or two of camp because it’s always very chaotic for them to get into that rhythm if they’re not used to it. Then by the end of summer, they’re all– Because we have reinforced that expectation that they need to have these different types of sustainable practices as a part of our camp culture. Also because it’s part of the Ecology Center.

One of the other things, not just about sustainability, but we talked about how they represented Ecology Center. This is just a summertime job for them, but this is our year-round job and how they act during camp will reflect on us throughout the year. Somebody who might just come and sign up for a summer camp session. One session, just to try it out or what works in their family schedule or whatever it might be.

If they have a positive time at our camp during the summer, then they are more inclined to sign up for something throughout the school year, programming period. But if they don’t, then they definitely won’t. Then they will also share their negative experience. That would be old adage, that if someone has a positive experience in like– I don’t know any kind of customer service based situation, they will tell one or two people. If they have a negative experience, they will tell 8 to 10 people. Also sharing that specific stat with them, they reinforced how important it is that they represent us, their selves and the Ecology Center programs in the best possible way.

Matt, Program Coordinator

Hope you enjoyed this piece about how sustainability being incorporated into the Ecology Center as well as learning on how Erika and Matt are committed to spreading the message to all staff to ensure that they correctly represent the Center. Get pumped for the next article where we will be diving into how Erika and Matt would describe the Ecology Center in one word. What do you think that word will be?

Follow the EEA on:

• Facebook: Facebook.com/EvanstonEnvironmentalAssn

• Twitter: @EvanstonEnvAssn

• Instagram: evanston_env_assn

Written by: Kalina Gajda

Dear reader,

We hope you have been enjoying the small weekly insights into the Ecology Center. This week’s focus is on what makes the Evanston Ecology Center unique compared to other ecology centers. Read on to find out what makes this a truly special place in our community.

How does the Evanston Ecology Center differ from other ecology centers in the area?

Well, I think Matt touched on this before that we are pretty urban. Although I think the City of Evanston does a pretty good job with maintaining and recognizing the value of green space. It doesn’t necessarily change that we don’t have a lot of it. We, I think, are unique in that we try to make the most of finding nature, even in small spaces, or even in urban spaces, and trying to let people know that there still is nature in your backyard. There still is nature here. You can find it close to home.
We focus a lot on natives like native animals and things you can do to help and protect things even though we live in an urban space. I think that might be unique to us because other places don’t have that challenge. They are already set on beautiful reserved landscapes that have been conserved or preserved for a long time. We just try to make the best of the environment that we have and tell people that they can do that, even on the smallest scale, at their own house.

Erika, Program Coordinator

I think the main differentiator for us in the Chicago land area is our access to the lake. There’s not a whole lot of other communities directly on the lake. Nobody else has access to it the way we do. We do have our site of the fog houses, where we hold camps and other preschool level type, classes. That is one of our main differences along with– While Erica was talking about an urban setting nature center, everybody’s faking that.
We are more urban than Chicago Nature Centers. The nature centers in Chicago have nature that they have forced around them or [they have] unmanaged areas. I can’t think of one place in all Evanston that is like that. There was just a spot along the canal further south of here. Other than that, everything has a maintenance plan of some sort of has some utilization already. That is our other unique feature and challenge.

Matt, Program Coordinator

I think it’s amazing that we have such a wonderful nature-oriented resource in a city. Is there any other reason that you think the Evanston Ecology Center is unique? Please let us know in a comment below if you do.

Cheers till next week! Thanks for reading.

Follow the EEA on:

• Facebook: Facebook.com/EvanstonEnvironmentalAssn

• Twitter: @EvanstonEnvAssn

• Instagram: evanston_env_assn

Written by: Kalina Gajda

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Dear reader,

Happy New Year! We hope that you enjoyed the holidays and that 2019 is off to a fantastic start. We are continuing our Meet the Staff and Animals of the Ecology Center series with a post focusing on the importance of knowing what resources are available in your community. A vital resource to the Evanston community is the Evanston Ecology Center. Read on to find out what Matt and Erika wish you knew about this special place.

What do you wish everyone knew about the Evanston Ecology Center?

I do not think there is just one thing but would like to keep working at connecting with more community members. Many people do not know about us or the great program opportunities we have and I would like to keep working at changing that.

Most people that we interact with, that come to the Ecology Center have a really positive experience. We do have some regulars that love us. The people that we do drop in usually say they wish they knew about it sooner. We have people come on a regular basis that say that they’ve lived here for 15 years and never heard of us. I just wish more people knew about us and knew about the wide variety of programming that we could do. We have the farmette and the bees, the animals as well as multiple sites. Overall, just have a lot of resources to share and a lot of knowledge from our staff and a lot of just really cool opportunities.

Erika, Program Coordinator

To me, that just means that we have more work to do to make sure the people know that we’re here. I think how we’re doing that is by some of this increased programming that we’re doing and becoming more relevant in the city of Evanston in general as a programming source. Something we try to do is expand beyond our core group of people who would sign up for program’s here anyway. People that are more inclined, nature-based inclined parents that would sign their children up for things. They will always seek out an Ecology Center, a nature center.
One of our goals is trying to broaden that reach and reach some of the parents who might not necessarily think about signing their child up for a shelter building class as opposed to like a basketball camp kind of thing. Just trying to get that we have a lot more here than in the past out to the community.

Matt, Program Coordinator

Let’s do our best and try to make Erika and Matt’s wish come true to let more people know about the Evanston Ecology Center and the great resource it is to our community. Therefore, if you know someone who might be interested in exploring the Ecology Center then please tell them about it.

Together we can spread the word and support this wonderful organization.

Follow the EEA on:

• Facebook: Facebook.com/EvanstonEnvironmentalAssn

• Twitter: @EvanstonEnvAssn

• Instagram: evanston_env_assn

Written by: Kalina Gajda

Dear readers,

Time for the next part of the interview series with the staff of the Evanston Ecology Center. In this post, you will learn more about the Ecology Center itself from Erika and Matt who are currently Program Coordinators at the Center. But first, a brief background on this special place for our community.

The Evanston Ecology Center is a facility operated by the City of Evanston and was built on the grounds of the Ladd Arboretum in 1974 and serves as a focal point for environmental education and volunteerism in Evanston and the surrounding community.

The Ecology Center’s mission is to offer educational programs to local residents that will foster a greater appreciation, awareness, and knowledge of the environment. 

Programs range from introductory natural history classes covering areas such as plant identification and animal study to popular summer camps that engage kids in environmentally focused outdoor activities. For more information on Ecology Center programs, click HERE.

How would you describe the Evanston Ecology Center?

The Ecology Center offers a variety of nature-based and environmental educational programming for people of all ages. We offer a lot of programs for youth such as school field trips, scout programs, birthday parties, and summer camps on most nature-related topics. We also are open to the public for them to come to the animal room. They can learn about the animals here or spend time learning about nature in our space.

-Erika, Program Coordinator

I would say along with all of that that we do our best to get people connected with nature in an urban area. This building here is right beside a major road and this is the only stretch of tree area and lots of the Arboretum area is the larger structure in Evanston. We just try our best to try to connect people with nature with not a lot of it actually around. A lot of other nature centers are on larger plots with Emily Oaks for example, just in Skokie is on a pretty large plot that you could feel like you’re actually in the woods in part of it. That’s difficult for us to pull off here. We just find other ways to do that.

-Matt, Program Coordinator

What do you enjoy most about working at the Ecology Center?

I would say that the thing that I enjoy the most is that we are allowed to be innovative. Part of the history of our positions here is that when we came into our spots that we were put in charge with remaking the center because the building and the program’s been here for over 40 years. They had fallen into a pattern of doing the same things over and over. We were asked to expand the programming and give a lot of different types of programming. Through that, we’ve been able to do a lot of special and extra projects.

-Matt

That’s part of my dream for us that we have the freedom to do almost anything we want as long as we stay within budgetary constraints. We function everything on a budget here, but we also are able to make and do a lot of things on our own. For example, this whole room here, the animal room that we are sitting in and the extension that the EEA helped pay for. Almost all of the enclosures in the [Ecology Center room]… are things that we’ve built ourselves. We have re-made this in our own image in some sense. Just being allowed to expand the programming is my favorite part.

-Matt

I enjoy the variety of work I have the opportunity to do. I love the outdoors, so I am happy I get to share my interest with the community and support environmental awareness in so many different important ways.

-Erika

Now you know what Matt and Erika love about the Ecology Center! We hope that you are just as excited about all the programming that goes on at the Center as we are. If you are interested in learning more about upcoming programs click HERE.

Follow the EEA on:

• Facebook: Facebook.com/EvanstonEnvironmentalAssn

• Twitter: @EvanstonEnvAssn

• Instagram: evanston_env_assn

Written by: Kalina Gajda

Dear reader,

Have you visited Evanston Ecology Center and wondered who are the amazing people behind the programming? Did you want to find out more about the animals that live in the Center? Through a series of weekly posts, you will have the chance to get insight into this important and innovative organization.

Many thanks to Erika Doroghazi and Matt Poole, who are Program Coordinators at the Evanston Ecology Center, for taking the time to be interviewed for this unique interview series. This wouldn’t have been possible without you.

What is the Evanston Ecology Center?

The Evanston Ecology Center, a facility operated by the City of Evanston, was built on the grounds of the Ladd Arboretum in 1974 and serves as a focal point for environmental education and volunteerism in Evanston and the surrounding community. Learn more about the Ecology Center here.

Address: 2024 McCormick Blvd, Evanston 60201

Phone: (847) 448-8256

Email: ecologycenter@cityofevanston.org

Meet the Staff: Erika and Matt

What is your role at the Evanston Ecology Center?

I am a Program Coordinator at the Ecology Center, as is Matt. We wear many hats some include overseeing public, school, scout and summer camp programming. We assist with planning city wide special events. We maintain the Ecology Center apiary, farmette, and animal room. We manage 4 community garden sites and the indoor farmers market.

Erika Doroghazi, Program Coordinator

We do a lot of the same stuff but if we were going to differentiate a little bit I oversee the rentals of the Ecology Center for people that rent the space for special events that they might host. But then we used to share a lot of the same responsibilities as far as major program ideas, helping to make sure that we have everything in place for that. Also, we work on the special events for Ecology Center specific special events. Others are department-wide parks and recreation community services, special events.

Matt Poole, Program Coordinator 

What is your background and how long have you worked at the Ecology Center?

I studied Environmental Studies and Agriscience with a focus on Community
Engagement and Education at Michigan State University. Before coming to the Ecology Center I have worked at various nature centers and non-profit organizations, all focused on non-formal environmental education. I have worked here for a little over 5 years, starting part time as an instructor. 

Erika

I have an Education degree with an Outdoor Education minor from Ohio University. Then when I came to the Chicago area, I went to graduate school to get a Masters in Recreation Administration. I started at Denver’s Park District where I worked my way up to being in charge of among other things the environmental programs there and was there for about five years before I came into the Ecology Center about five years ago.

Matt

We hope you enjoyed the first part of the interview with Erika and Matt from the Evanston Ecology Center. Lots more engaging material coming next week about programming and how Erika and Matt would describe the Center, so stay posted!

Follow the EEA on:

• Facebook: Facebook.com/EvanstonEnvironmentalAssn

• Twitter: @EvanstonEnvAssn

• Instagram: evanston_env_assn

Written by: Kalina Gajda