Campus Wild | 2013, 2014, 2015
Location: Oregon State University
Spring Creek Project hosted a Campus Wild project (originally called the Campus Creature Census) from 2013 to 2015. The project was an ongoing invitation to get to know all the living beings on the Oregon State University campus. We invited everyone, including students, faculty, staff and community members, to help create a catalog of encounters with the trees, birds, mammals, flowers, insects and other living things with whom we share this campus habitat.
Hundreds of people participated in the project by selecting a non-human being on campus, such as a plant, animal, microbe, fungus, insect, or other organism and submitting an entry about that organism. We invited submission in five categories: prose, field guide, poetry, art and photography. A panel of judges chose student winners in each of these five categories, and those students each received a $100 prize.
While the submission window was open, Spring Creek Project also hosted a Campus Wild workshop, which included art-science pairings like a tree walk and a photography workshop, a tour of the OSU insect collection and a sketching workshop and a bird walk and writing workshop, among many others. When the submission window closed and winners were selected, we hosted a Campus Wild Celebration featuring readings and talks by the winners in each category, tabling by local naturalist groups, and a guest speaker. Over the years, we partnered with organizations like Neighborhood Naturalist, OSU Bird Nerds student club, Corvallis Environmental Center and the Marys River Watershed Council to help promote Campus Wild.
To learn more about the project, check out the 2013 Campus Creature Census and the 2015 Campus Wild publication.
Top image: Ammon Cheney (2013 Campus Creature Census student art winner), "Earwig"