Volunteer Opportunities
A variety of community service (volunteer) activities are offered by the Sustainability Office throughout the year, which are explained in detail below. to receive periodic updates with new volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, and other sustainability-related news.
We welcome all students, faculty, and community members to join our efforts! UWW faculty, staff, and students use their Net ID to log into Connect2 and community members can create a Connect2 profile. All volunteers must complete our to be eligible to register for our volunteer sessions.
to view our current schedule and register for your preferred session times. We ask attendees to register in advance so we can communicate any cancellations.
For questions or to schedule volunteer sessions for your group or organization, please email sustainability@uww.edu. To make an appointment for groups of 5 or more people, please email us with your affiliation, group size, along with times and dates that work best for you.
WHAT: Learn about plant maintenance, harvesting, weeds, and pests without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers at the UW-Whitewater Campus Garden. Whether you're new to gardening, a garden guru, or just looking to get outside and help fight hunger in our local community, all are welcome to help! Our interns will lead the sessions by providing tools and instructions for volunteers to make gardening easy and accessible.
WHEN: We typically offer sessions in the Campus Garden from May through October. We recommend joining the Gardening Club to get involved right away in fall!
WHERE:We typically offer sessions in the Campus Garden from May through October. The between the Ambrose Health Center and Campus Bookstore on Starin Road.
WHAT: We do a variety of horticultural activities in the Upham Greenhouse throughout the year, with most of the work focused on February-May. During these months we are busy preparing for the gardening season by cleaning and organizing the greenhouse as well as planting and watering seeds.
WHEN: We typically offer volunteer sessions during the seed propagation schedule from February through April. We also offer sessions throughout the year as a backup option for inclement weather. Gardening Club hosts most of their meetings there and will often help us with maintenance tasks throughout the academic year.
WHERE: on the south end of the first floor of Upham Hall. The door to enter the greenhouse is at the very end of the Physics Department hallway.
WHAT: Prairie seed collection helps establish or bolster existing prairie areas in the Nature Preserve, or is used to establish native plantings across the campus landscape or donated/traded with local entities to provide a more diverse seed bank using local genotypes.
WHEN: We typically offer volunteer sessions from September through early November.
WHERE: Prairie seed collection sessions meet at the on Schwager Drive.
WHAT: Invasive species removal of species such as buckthorn, honeysuckle, garlic mustard, sweet clover, and reed canary grass helps maintain the integrity and quality of the habitats for wildlife and student learning.
WHEN: Invasive removal is seasonal based on the specific species, but typically occurs throughout the year. Most of the work occurs from November-March removing woody invasives like buckthorn and honeysuckle.
WHERE: Invasive species removal sessions meet at the on Schwager Drive.
WHAT: The UW-Whitewater Sustainability Office participates in stream monitoring with the through the . The Sustainability Office interns and volunteers monitor three local streams and take measurements of different variables that assess water quality and overall stream health of these tributaries of the Rock River. These measurements include temperature, stream flow, transparency, dissolved oxygen, stream depth, and biotic index. This hands-on experience is ideal for students interested in environmental science, conservation, or fieldwork, and contributes to ongoing efforts to protect and understand local ecosystems.
WHEN: We typically conduct stream monitoring three times per month between April and October at our site locations along , , and .
WHERE: Stream monitoring sessions leave from the Upham Greenhouse, unless otherwise noted in the event. on the south end of the first floor of Upham Hall. The door to enter the greenhouse is at the very end of the Physics Department hallway.