The Nature of the Square newsletterSign up!

The seed for Washington Square Park Eco Projects took root in 2013. We launched as WSP Ecology in 2014 with the park’s first online tree map, WSP Eco Map. The map also featured layer of Minetta Brook’s historic and contemporary flows. In 2016, we received our first permit to conduct a long-term wildlife survey from the NYC Parks Natural Resources Group. We designed and piloted Explore Birds, a mobile education program, in 2016 with Street Lab. The bird specimens, the central component of the education program, are prepared and exhibited under USFWS and NYS DEC permits. Our latest effort is a phenology monitoring program which we launched in the fall 2019 (with a permit from the NYC Parks Natural Resources Group). Check out our accomplishments spanning the years 2014-2018 below.

2018

  • EXPLORE Birds at Garden 6 B Biodiversity Day, September 30, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at Washington Square Park with WSP EXPLORE NYC, September 20, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at Sara D. Roosevelt Park, August 16, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at Two Bridges Weekend Walk, August 8, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at Jacob Schiff Playground, August 3, 2018.
  • Bird Open Studio, July 31, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at American Association for the Advancement of Science Citizen Science Symposium and Expo, June 14, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at Union Square It’s My Park Day, June 2, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at World Science Festival, June 3, 2018.
  • Host site for City Nature Challenge, April 27-30, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at Albee Square Earth Day Block Party, April 21, 2018.
  • EXPLORE Birds exhibited at March for Science New York City Teach-In in Washington Square Park, April 14, 2018.
  • Host site for the Great Backyard Bird Count on February 17 and 18, 2018.
  • Year Three of the WSP Wildlife Survey.

2017

  • Year Two of the WSP Wildlife Survey. (Read the 2016 (Year One) report published in The Villager here.)
  • Piloted EXPLORE Birds, a pop-up bird education program in collaboration with the Uni Project.
  • Awarded a Blake-Nuttall Fund grant to launch EXPLORE Birds with the Uni Project in 2018.
  • Organized spring and fall nature walks led by Dr. Leslie Day (co-presented with the park conservancy).
  • Co-led a natural and cultural history Jane’s Walk with WSP Blog (Cathryn Swan).

2016

  • Launched WSP Wildlife Survey with a permit from NYC Parks Natural Resources Group.
  • Shelved collection of nature books shelved with the Uni Project READ cart. (Read about our first year partnership with the Uni Project here.)
  • The Bird Feed NYC custom designed a Nature Bingo Game for us.
  • Winter tree identification walk co-presented with the park conservancy.

2015

  • Renamed organization to Washington Square Park Eco Projects.
  • Developed prototype wildlife observation tool (Nature Finds) with SciStarter and piloted during World Science Festival 2015.
  • Organized spring nature walk led by Dr. Leslie Day.

2014

  • Launched with the WSP Eco Map, an online map of the trees in the park. Co-fundraised with WSP Blog (Cathryn Swan) on the ioby platform.
  • Co-designed family nature scavenger hunt with Julie Cramer, a NYU Conservation Education graduate student.
  • Organized fall foliage tree walk led by urban naturalist Dr. Leslie Day.
  • Hosted plant photography workshop led by local photographer Hubert J. Steed.