FIELD NOTES BLOG

Spring Community Science

Caedyn Wells
March 10, 2026

Explore Community Science

What do you think of when community, nature, and science come together? Community Science here at Severson Dells Nature Center! Where great moments and memories are made through connecting people with our environment. 


What is Community Science, and how can you take part? 

Community Science is a great way for volunteers to get involved with engaging science driven programs and activities within your community! Programs are hosted by Severson Dells and partnering organizations, based on the specific program. Joining us is free to attend, with different training events available for desired opportunities. 


What's coming up? 

Spring is a great time for Community Science, here are some ways to get involved!


Engage with your community on restoration workdays by helping to remove invasive species! We provide everything you may need such as gloves, eyewear, clippers, and snacks! Science of the Seasons is a monthly hike focused on real community driven science! We will learn about plant and wildlife ID, seasonal Phenology, and different monitoring techniques. Lastly, get excited for our webinar training series! Starting with our general informational webinar March 11th at 6pm, where we will go over important information on our community science programs coming up!


Programs include:

  • Budburst
  • March 18th (6pm virtually)
  • Beespotter 
  • April 15th (6pm virtually)
  • Bat Monitoring
  • April 22nd (6pm virtually)


What next?

If any of these programs caught your interest or you're simply wanting to learn more about what Community Science is, RSVP for our community science general informational webinar. If you’re interested in other opportunities or have further questions, please reach out to communityscience@seversondells.org for more information on how to get involved!


RECENT ARTICLES

Spring Wildflowers

By Caedyn Wells, Lauren Bonavia, Olivia Price, Caroline Pacheco • April 15, 2026
April showers bring May flowers… and they're already beginning to appear! These newly emerging wildflowers remind us that the season is changing and that soon the lands around us will be in full bloom. With all of the excitement, let’s dive into some of the things that make flowers so incredible! In this month’s blog, we’ll be learning how to ID wildflowers, talk about the shape and arrangement of certain flowers, their benefits to wildlife, and lastly about their colors and anatomy!

Making it Easier to Volunteer

By Andrea Wallace Noble • April 9, 2026
Removing obstacles to connect you to causes you care about!

Carbon Sequestration at Prairie's Edge

By Emma Zimmerman • April 7, 2026
As we begin the process of rewilding the former Elliot Golf Course, now named Prairie’s Edge, one of the first steps is to gather baseline data so we can track our progress over time. One of the biggest changes we expect to see as the land transitions from a golf course to native habitat is how much carbon it can store. To understand why this matters, it helps to start with carbon itself.