1972 50th Reunion Virtual Event Series: A Talk In Three Movements
Sunday, September 12, 2021
7-8:30 p.m. Central
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A Zoom link will be provided following your registration.
Before your 50th reunion celebration next June, we invite you to join your classmates for an educational and fun virtual event. This will be the first in a series of regular programs designed to showcase classmates’ talents and experiences while creating opportunity for connection and dialogue. Our first program, featuring Mike '72 and Marcie '73 O'Connor will feature three 10-minute talks followed by time for questions and discussion.
A Talk in Three Movements
Prairie Haven - Restoring Native Habitat on an old Wisconsin Farm
Marcie and Mike bought an old Wisconsin farm in 2000 and decided to make a project out of trying to restore the land back to the way it was before it was farmed. They’ve planted prairies in all the old crop fields, cleared overgrown bluff prairies and savanna, and restored and replanted wet prairies along the creek. Marcie will talk about some of their projects and adventures and show slides of the changes they’ve made on the land. She’ll also show us some of the many birds and animals they’ve seen as the native habitat returns.
Ears in the Driftless - BioAcoustic Monitoring in the Driftless Area
BioAcoustics is a cross-disciplinary combination of acoustics and ecology. Learn how Mike is using this technique to document habitat changes over the course of their project.
Better Lucky Than Smart - Opposing Frac Sand Mining in the Driftless Area
Marcie and Mike and their Buffalo County neighbors got caught by surprise when frac-sand mining mania swept through Wisconsin's sand country in 2011. This will be a short summary of the experiences they had -- a great "plucky locals come from behind" story that has a happy ending.
Mike and Marcie O’Connor are retired landowners working to restore and manage their land in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area.
Marcie ’73 started learning to identify plants when she was about 10 years old, studied botany and ecology in college, and has remained interested in plants and restoration ecology ever since. Today, she focuses on restoring Prairie Haven and the citizen science of identifying and documenting all the animals and plants that she finds there.
Mike ’72 is a retired tech-industry entrepreneur who started fooling around with music and audio about the same time that Marcie got interested in plants. He bridges between his interest in all things tech and the restoration work he and Marcie do.