EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, 2015

EVENT: The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network is collaborating with graduate students and faculty from the University of Michigan to conduct a BioBlitz biodiversity survey at D-Town Farm. The goals are to engage citizen science, foster community bonds and discover biodiversity in the city of Detroit.

A BioBlitz is a rapid biodiversity assessment that combines taxonomic inventory, public outreach and science education. This year, approximately 80 children from the food security network’s Food Warriors program will survey D-Town Farm in an effort to identify all of the plants, fungi, insects, birds, mammals and reptiles in the five-acre farm. U-M students and faculty who study ecology will team up with Detroit community members to promote the exploration of nature and document the abundance of life at one of Detroit’s organically maintained farms.

The data collected will be used to extend scientific and public understanding of biodiversity in this unique urban landscape and to inform future opportunities for environmental stewardship. Over time, researchers will be able to measure how the farm’s maintenance affects the organisms that inhabit it. In addition, youth will engage in an out-of-the-classroom, hands-on learning opportunity, as they interact with nature and build relationships with people in academia.

PLACE: D-Town Farm, 3800 Puritan Ave., Detroit

SPONSORS: Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Voices for Earth Justice, U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment, and SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability).

MEDIA: The event is open to news media. Please RSVP to Tiffany S. Carey at tctcarey2@gmail.com or 313-334-9351.