About Us
The Urban Ecology Center is an environmental education organization with two community centers adjacent to Milwaukee County parks (or, as we like to call them “outdoor classrooms”). On any given day and you’ll find classes of students from local schools engaging in hands-on learning about science, nature and how to live more sustainably, community members using the array of resources we offer, adventure-seekers borrowing our outdoor recreational equipment, climbing the rock-wall in Riverside Park or canoeing in the lagoon in Washington Park , or people just visiting the center, its staff and volunteers. Best of all, the Urban Ecology Center is available to everyone for fun and learning nearly every day of the year!
The Urban Ecology Center is a neighborhood-based, environmental education, nonprofit community center. Our “outdoor laboratories,” located in two urban parks, include 15 acres of wooded land and riparian habitat on the east bank of the Milwaukee River, an imaginative, habitat-themed playground, and a lagoon. The “green” building in Riverside Park that houses our main offices, resource areas and classrooms is home to live animals, informational exhibits and user-friendly resource materials about the environment.
Financial Base
- Donations from Friends
- Program Fees
- Grants
- Annual fund raising events
History
In the early 1900's Riverside Park was a well groomed, popular park for seasonal swimming, boating, skating and curling. Over decades of industrial use, the Milwaukee River reached a level of pollution that no longer attracted visitors and the park was essentially abandoned. In 1991, after much discussion regarding the best way to revitalize the area, the Urban Ecology Center was born. Dr. Else Ankel, Environmental Scientist in Residence at Riverside High School, was the driving force behind this grass roots effort. The organization grew from a few volunteer teachers taking children into the park into what we are today.
