Volunteer Spotlight: Thank You, U of M and Memphis City Beautiful Volunteers!

This month we would like to thank The University of Memphis and Memphis City Beautiful for their engagement with the Wolf River Conservancy.

Special thanks to The University of Memphis Rugby team and event organizer Caleb Schmidt for joining us to remove invasive species from the Epping Way section of the Wolf River Greenway. The team diligently worked to remove privet, which is known to take over forested areas, crowding out native plants and changing local ecosystems. Thanks to their efforts, we have now significantly reduced the privet footprint at our Epping Way trailhead. We would also like to shout out Drs. Jennifer Mandel and Shawn Brown as the developers of the new partnership between the University of Memphis and Ducks Unlimited. They initiated a course at the UofM that gives students the opportunity to earn an Ecology Conservation and Management Certification while also gaining course credits toward graduation. As part of this certification, students will engage in fieldwork with The Wolf River Conservancy as well as attending Conservancy webinars for class credit! Good job, U of M!

We would also like to thank Memphis City Beautiful for partnering with The Conservancy to plant trees at Kennedy Park. Volunteers worked to beautify the park entrance while adding canopy and wildlife habitat. This planting accompanied recent and ongoing improvements at Kennedy that include a new playground, sports fields, greenway extension, and stormwater infrastructure.  

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