Events

What does it really take to turn a conventional lawn into a thriving native meadow? Join Owner & Principal, New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), Sara Weaner Cooper for a candid look at her family's ongoing lawn-to-meadow transformation featured in The New York Times and BBC. Drawing from three years of hands-on experience, Sara will share the methods, lessons learned, successes, and challenges of converting turfgrass into a dynamic native plant community. Participants will gain practical insights into site preparation, planting, management, and the ecological principles that guide successful meadow establishment, along with realistic expectations for how these landscapes evolve over time.

Registration link coming soon.

Pints & Native Plants is an informal meet-up that takes place on the third Thursday of each month. It’s a chance to have a drink together and chat about native plants, challenges in our gardens, pollinators, and more. Everyone is welcome–come by and get to know other native plant enthusiasts and KAWO members.

“Coalesce: Science and Art Collaborations to Foster Environmental Engagement,”  with Sharon Gill and Jacklyn Brickman

In a challenging environmental landscape, unconventional approaches to engage people in conservation are urgently needed. Our panel of science and art students and professors will share perspectives on teaching and research practices to provide new insights into environmental issues and creative conservation solutions. As educators, we've created an interdisciplinary program that provides students with experiences that bridge science and art, fostering creative problem solving. Science students learn to communicate not only facts but also stories and data visualizations that engage audiences. Art majors learn about ecological processes and ideas that can be fertile ground for artistic exploration. As researchers, we use scientific and conservation evidence, artificial intelligence, and kinetic imaging to tell stories of bird extinctions. Together, we practice making our disciplines more relatable to each other and by extension, more relatable to the public.

Jacklyn Brickman and Sharon Gill have been collaborating since 2023 in both their research practices and in teaching a collaborative Art-Science Course. Gill is a sound ecologist and educator, whose research interests include bird communication, impacts of human-driven environmental change on bird song and collective soundscapes, and bird extinctions. Brickman is a visual artist and educator whose work entangles science fact with fiction to address social and environmental concerns by employing natural entities, processes, and technology which spans installation, video, and performance, cross-disciplinary collaboration and social engagement. Brickman is an assistant professor of Kinetic Imaging and Gill is a professor of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Program begins at 6:30pm; doors open at 6:00 for social time

Pints & Native Plants is an informal meet-up that takes place on the third Thursday of each month. It’s a chance to have a drink together and chat about native plants, challenges in our gardens, pollinators, and more. Everyone is welcome–come by and get to know other native plant enthusiasts and KAWO members.

Bats are among the most important and misunderstood wildlife in our communities. Join experts from Bat Conservation International to explore how native plants, healthy insect populations, and thoughtful landscape design can help support bats. Learn about the ecological role of bats and discover practical ways to create habitat for North America's night flyers right in your own backyard.

Guardians of the Night: Why Darkness Matters
Written by Jessican Hagen, SEED, & Gail Walter

This is a joint program with Audubon Society of Kalamazoo.

Please join us on Monday, October 26th as we explore the importance of nighttime and the vital role darkness plays in healthy ecosystems. From bats and moths to birds, frogs, insects, and nocturnal plants, countless living things depend on natural darkness to feed, navigate, reproduce, rest, and survive. Participants will learn how excessive artificial light can disrupt wildlife, change natural behaviors, and affect the delicate relationships that connect nighttime species.

Birds are an important part of this story. Millions of migratory birds travel at night, using natural cues such as the stars, moon, and Earth's magnetic field to navigate. Bright lights can attract and disorient migrating birds, increasing the risk of collisions with
buildings and exhausting birds already on a long, difficult journey.

We will discuss international and local dark sky movements, which are efforts to reduce light pollution by promoting responsible outdoor lighting and protecting naturally dark night skies. Protecting dark skies preserves star visibility, supports wildlife, and reduces unnecessary energy use from excessive artificial light.

Jessica Hagen is a local science teacher at The Montessori School and a nature enthusiast passionate about preserving nighttime ecology. She will be joined by a few students from the Super Epic Earth Defender (SEED) student group.  Gail Walter is the current ASK president and an advocate for reducing threats to birds, including window collisions and artificial light at night.
We hope you’ll join us on Monday, Oct 26th, at People’s Church, 1758 North 10th Street, Kalamazoo. This program is geared to all audiences, and we enthusiastically invite families and nature lovers of any age to join us!  Come at 6:30 PM (new time) for
some refreshments and socializing. Snacks and beverages will be provided. It’s helpful if you bring your own cup. The one-hour program will start at 7:00 PM. Handicap parking and access is at either the front or the rear entrance of the building. 

Zoe Evans, rewilding coach and VP of Partnerships & Programs at Wildr shares a practical, science-informed framework for evaluating a home landscape, identifying its greatest habitat opportunities, and choosing actions that support more plants, insects, birds, and other wildlife.

Registration link coming soon.

No yard required. Learn how native plants can turn patios, balconies, containers, and other small spaces into meaningful habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. This practical panel will cover plant selection, container design, seasonal care, and realistic ways to support biodiversity in limited spaces.

Registration link coming soon.

Birds depend on healthy, connected habitats for food, shelter, nesting, and migration support. Join experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to explore how native plants and thoughtful landscape choices can support birdlife at home. Learn how gardens, yards, and community spaces can provide the insects, seeds, berries, cover, and habitat structure birds need throughout the year.

Registration link coming soon. 

Monarch butterflies depend on a network of habitats stretching across North America, and home landscapes can play an important role in their survival. Join experts from Monarch Joint Venture to explore the science behind monarch conservation, including the importance of milkweed, nectar resources, and regionally appropriate habitat. Learn practical ways to support monarchs through native landscaping and help sustain one of the world's most remarkable migrations.
 

Registration link coming soon.