- This week on Wisconsin Life :
Meet a group where every member counts,
a muralist painting the town,
a sewer stitching communities together,
and a farmer of one huge pumpkin!
It's all ahead on Wisconsin Life !
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- Funding for Wisconsin Life
is provided in part
by Alliant Energy,
Lowell and Mary Peterson,
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
- Hello, and welcome to Wisconsin Life .
I'm your host, Angela Fitzgerald.
Today, I'm visiting
the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
in La Crosse.
It's run by the United States Geological Survey.
This 65-acre federal research facility
is located on French Island
in the Mississippi River and
works with public and private organizations
to address significant environmental issues.
Scientists here conduct ecological research
that informs decision-makers on ways to
manage, protect, and restore ecosystems
here in Wisconsin and around the world.
There is work on fish and wildlife ecology,
invasive species control
and creating publicly accessible
maps, databases, and other products.
We'll get a chance to explore more
about the research being conducted here
and explore the grounds later on.
But first we head to Madison
to check out another ecological endeavor
that turns community members into scientists.
- The University of Wisconsin Arboretum is
1,200 acres of land
right in the center of Madison
that's been protected since the 1930s.
The Arboretum is a place
for university professors and students
to do research.
It's a place to learn about how we can best restore nature.
And it's a place where people from Madison,
and from Wisconsin, and throughout the world
can come to experience nature.
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The natural world is changing today
at rates that are unprecedented.
That means that it's really important
that everybody gets engaged, at whatever level they can,
in trying to preserve what's left
and to restore what we've lost.
And that's one of the things
that happens through citizen science.
- Professor Susan Carpenter: That's a good one.
Oh, yeah, in flight you can see the features
because the wings are up out of the way.
- Citizen science is
the engagement of people who aren't professional scientists.
I think everybody is a scientist at heart.
But that can mean collecting data,
coming up with questions
and figuring out how the data should be collected,
or analyzing data and sharing findings.
- What we'll be doing today
is trying to take pictures of bumblebees.
We want to take multiple pictures of each bee,
assuming that one comes in.
And then, we'll have a whole set of pictures for each individual
and that'll give us the different views
that we can identify the bees from.
- We know that bee numbers are declining.
So the pollinator project
is one of our focus projects
at the Arboretum.
What we're asking is that people take pictures of the bees,
and they don't have to be super high quality.
They just have to be enough for us to be able
to zoom in and figure out what the species are.
Understanding their distribution and abundance
will help us build their populations back up
to robust and sustainable levels.
[buzzing]
The Arboretum was one of the first places
that Asian jumping worms were found in Wisconsin.
So, we started doing this research here.
And this project is really documenting
the moving front of an invasive species.
- We'll pour half of it inside the frame.
Then we'll look for some small wiggling masses.
There we go. That's good.
Here they come!
These are the Asian jumping worms
that we're concerned about
in terms of their potential impacts
to forests and to our gardens.
We'll count the number that come to the top
and that'll give us a number of earthworms
by species per square foot.
And we'll have a good idea how abundant they are
in a given area.
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- Whether it's birds or butterflies or worms,
we can't study them without a lot of involvement
on the part of people besides professional scientists.
And citizen science can be done anywhere:
in schoolyards, in parks,
in nature centers, in backyards.
Citizen science provides
the eyes and ears and boots on the ground
that can help us answer specific ecological questions.
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- Scientists track nature
while some artists try to recreate it.
Like the Door County muralist
who brings a fresh perspective
to the peninsula.
- And I'll keep that in the distance.
I'll use more reds and intense greens, dark greens,
as we get closer to the front
just to separate,
to create distance.
Artists learn how to see things in a different way obviously.
- A trompe l'oeil is a painting
that creates an illusion of a three-dimensional object,
bringing life and depth to a flat surface.
- I'm pretty convinced that, from childhood,
the world I look at
is not the same world that everybody sees.
- But Ram Rojas doesn't just want to fool your eyes,
he wants his art to inspire you.
To see the presence of the divine all around you.
- Everything that you paint says something about the story.
So nothing is disconnected.
- That's true for Ram's art and his life.
- I think the way you live your life influences your artwork.
There's no question about it.
- Ram's story begins in his home country of Venezuela,
where his talent as an artist was noticed early.
- I think art happened to me.
I don't think I chose it.
- His mother enrolled him in art school
around the time he started to question his Catholic faith.
- I started to be attracted to other philosophies.
I read a lot.
And I started to look for answers.
- A Hindu group had a chapter in Venezuela
and came to the art school.
When they saw Ram already drawing Hindu art,
they asked if he wanted to come to the United States.
- They told me I was going to paint for their publications.
I think there was an element of serendipity.
What were the chances they will find me
and I was painting-- happened to be painting a Hindu?
- At age 18, Ram came to a new country,
learned a new language and converted to a new religion.
- I did become a very strong believer at the time.
They believed that we must live a life of devotion towards God.
My meditation was painting.
My devotion, my prayer,
everything was painting.
- The Hindu group sent Ram around the world
to learn from the old masters in Italy and France.
- Basically Renaissance-style art,
Classical rendition of Hindu art.
- His depictions of the Hindu gods became the new standards.
- For me, it was 100% diving into the philosophy.
I was illustrating it
and these books were distributed
in every language all over the world.
- Eventually, the Hindu group splintered from within
and Ram drifted away from Hinduism.
A few years later, a gallery owner in Wisconsin
asked him to come and paint some iconic scenes in Door County.
- Door County, when I came here 27 years ago,
was a lot like a little village.
It's very much an artists' community.
- Over time, Ram continued to travel
but always returned to Wisconsin.
- Door County is unique, you know that.
But it's got a beautiful setting,
which I have lived in gorgeous settings all over the world,
so that wasn't it.
It has people that are very cultured and progressive
living in a country setting.
That's probably pretty unique.
- Ram went from painting gods
to painting farmers and vacationers.
- I was fascinated with the Hindu paintings
that I painted and reading the stories.
So when I came here,
I was just as amazed with the American life.
This is the closest I've gotten to normalcy ever in my life.
- Ram has returned to his Christian roots
but the Hindu influence is still there.
- I believe that everything is part of the one and I see it.
That's how I see my paintings.
If I'm painting this couple here as a wedding portrait,
I'm thinking, "Well, these are parts of the whole."
I'm not thinking, "It's just Martha and John."
I see much more in them
and I think that filters through my art.
- Ram tries to show the light in everything,
from watercolors of Door County's hidden spots
to his life-size mural in Baileys Harbor.
- Beautiful work. - Thank you.
- Absolutely gorgeous. - Thank you.
- We've been looking--
- Every year we enjoy it and we see more and more.
- It's another trompe l'oeil and the illusion tells a story,
bringing life and depth to the town's history.
- Looking at it from this side,
when you're looking at it next to it, it's...
but now I see the side of the building.
Oh, my gosh, it's just brilliant!
It's just amazing.
- No other art can speak
the way a mural speaks to a community.
- It's a community that Ram now places himself in.
Not just observing and painting but living.
- My name? Ram Rojas.
I've been painting here for 27 years.
- Really? - I'm a local.
- His art has influenced people across the world
but from Ram's perspective,
he's just happy to have found a place to call home.
- I'm grateful that I found this town.
I'm grateful that it gave me a home.
These type of flowers are very common out there.
That's because everybody wants: to go and see the show.
[Ram laughing]
- If you were only smaller. [chuckling]
- When the Upper Midwest Ecological Research Center
first opened in 1959,
their main focus was on controlling
invasive sea lamprey and common carp.
Today, research at the facility has diversified and expanded
with more than 120 employees using state of the art equipment
to provide accurate ecological data and analysis.
The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
is a busy hub of research activity.
One of the largest and most successful projects
at the La Crosse-based center
is the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program.
Director Mark Gaikowski oversees the work.
- So the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program
is a program that was created by the hard work
of the five upper Mississippi River states
in collaboration with a number of federal agencies
that work together collaboratively
on the upper Mississippi River
to meet the needs
of the states and federal partners and the public
to have a healthy and vibrant ecosystem.
- A goal shared by every scientist here,
including Kathi Jo Jankowski
who runs water quality testing on the river.
- Most of them are designed
to evaluate the condition of the river
in terms of habitat for organisms that live there.
So we do a variety of tests in the field
where we measure things like temperature
and dissolved oxygen, pH, water clarity,
and then we come back.
We collect over 60,000 water samples a year
and we bring them back to this lab
where we test for things like sediment,
so, any sort of soil that's running off the landscape.
We test for how much algae is in the water column
and then we do nutrient testing, too,
to figure out how nutritious
the water is for various organisms.
- With each test comes different results.
Some positive
and some identifying areas that need work.
- We've seen improvements
as a result of things like the Clean Water Act
that have reduced inputs of nutrients
from point sources like wastewater treatment plants.
So we've seen that improve over time.
We've seen reductions in phosphorus and sediment
running off farms into tributaries
because of better improved management actions.
But we still suffer from some high loads of nitrogen
which runs down the river into the Gulf of Mexico.
So I think there's still more work that can be done.
- Work that involves collaboration.
Director Mark Gaikowski believes
that building eco-alliances with like-minded organizations
is the backbone of the work being conducted here.
- I find it very rewarding that we have conservation through
collaboration here on the Upper Mississippi River System.
We work together in partnership to find ways
to implement ecosystem restoration,
to conduct the science and monitoring
that's going to inform how we manage the river
and how our resource is utilized
for the next generations to come.
- It's eye-opening to see the work here
and its positive effects on our ecosystem.
Now we travel to the city of
Monona where we find a seamstress
whose handiwork uplifts people here and abroad.
[piano melody]
- When I sit down and sew,
my hands are busy with this thing
that's so familiar.
[sewing machine stitches]
It's some magical combination of the motor sound
and the sound of the needle.
[machine chugs rhythmically]
It allows my mind to open up and think about other things.
I do a lot of problem solving
when my hands are moving at a machine.
- Solving an unexpected problem
set Margaret Jankowski
on a course to help mend the world.
- To me, a sewing machine
is so much more than just a tool.
- Margaret learned that lesson in 2004
when a tsunami ravaged Asia.
The event made personal
through a story about a woman in Sri Lanka
who lost her sewing machine--
her only way to make a living.
- Something about that article really hit me.
Initially, as a sewer, I thought,
"Oh, I don't know what I'd do without my sewing machine."
But reading further and thinking about it more,
it was so clear that for this woman
that sewing machine was a tool for survival.
So, initially, I thought, "I'll collect some sewing machines
and I'll send them over to Southeast Asia."
- At the time, Margaret worked
at a sewing machine shop in Madison.
She tapped the generous spirit of its customers
to donate machines
to what she named "The Sewing Machine Project."
- Sewing machines are so important to people
that it's wonderful when people know that
their machine will have another chapter
and that it will go to help somebody else.
- The first donated machines
were making their way to Sri Lanka,
[ominous music]
when disaster struck closer to home--
Hurricane Katrina.
- I rented a van,
and my daughter and I drove to New Orleans.
I still deliver sewing machines to New Orleans,
mainly to the Mardi Gras Indians.
It's an amazing community.
[rhythm & blues]
- I think there was one year that Mardi Gras,
the Mardi Gras Parade happened
and would not have happened without Margaret
taking those machines down there.
- Today, "The Sewing Machine Project"
is more than just Margaret.
The project holds sewing classes in the Madison area
for under-served populations.
Monica Mims took one of the classes
taught by Rebecca Stanley
and today is working with her as an apprentice.
- I'm just really happy to teach her what I know.
And she's very fast.
She's a very fast learner.
- Thank you.
It's a great opportunity to learn something new and fun.
- We offer classes in different spots around Madison.
And different groups around the country
are interested in offering this, too.
And we offer them machines, and then,
they tailor the class to the population that they're serving.
- Margaret also found a storehouse for donated machines
in a converted Lutheran Church Sunday School room,
- And as you can see, there are sewing machines everywhere.
We try to make sure that every single machine,
everything on it works.
We want our machines to make people happy.
We don't want it to be a headache in any way
so our volunteers really carefully go through them
and check everything out.
- We can't send it out like this.
We certainly don't want to start a fire in someone's house.
- Margaret and The Sewing Machine Project's newest effort
benefits the public,
even if they don't want to touch a machine.
- All right. We're on it.
Yep, no problem!
- My sewing skills are not good.
I can do things by hand.
I've never tried a machine,
heaven help us all.
- Fortunately for Larry Orr,
The Sewing Machine Project also offers free mending,
It's first come, first served, every other Wednesday,
at Madison's Goodman Community Center.
- These are some of the most popular ladies in the building.
[laughter]
- When I'm mending something for someone,
especially people that I'm just meeting for the first time,
to me, there's something almost sacred about it
because so often
these are things that are dearly loved.
There's so much trust
on the part of the person giving it to us.
I would say "sacred" is the word that I would use.
It's really something.
- Silk long johns, expertly repaired!
Thank you ladies.
I really appreciate this.
- Margaret has watched The Sewing Machine Project
grow and diversify,
and sees a common thread--
making a difference.
- Whether we are sitting at a table
and mending things for people
or we're sitting down next to someone who's learning
how to use a sewing machine,
I can't help but think
that there's some little bit of mending going on.
You know, it might ease somebody's...
somebody else's struggle.
It might make somebody else's life easier in some way.
I think everybody has the power to do that.
We just want to do something that's good.
[sewing machine hums]
- Our last story takes us
to St. Cloud to meet a farmer
preparing for a competitive
pumpkin growing contest.
[country music]
[rooster crows]
- I am a fifth-generation dairy farmer.
We milk about 100 cows and run about 1,000 acres.
In my leisure time, I grow giant pumpkins.
I enjoy doing it and I couldn't see doing anything else.
We get seeds from all around the world.
First week in April, we start them indoors.
We bring them outside into little greenhouses.
We start the growing process that way.
This pumpkin is just over 10 days old.
You just want to grow a massive root system underneath.
The more roots you have,
the more water you'll have pushing through.
There's a lot pruning, a lot of burying.
That's probably the most time-consuming part.
When your vines are growing about a foot a day,
they can get away on you pretty fast if you don't keep up on it.
If you do that, you're going to have the best chance to grow
a really big fruit.
I take pride in it.
I try to do it the best I can, you know.
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right I think.
They're at about their prime growth right now.
I'm estimating they're growing about 30 to 40 pounds a day.
I like to keep the pumpkins covered so it shades them.
They start growing so fast, they actually will split.
Then you're disqualified from competition.
So, down here is my best-looking plant.
I knew that if I could set a nice pumpkin on this one
that I'd have a good chance at growing a monster.
So this pumpkin turned 40 days old today.
Some people say that's kind of your halfway point.
We measure success by weight.
It's not color or shape.
It's all pounds.
We take three measurements:
137",
85" for side to side,
and 84" for front to back.
I have my wife with the calculator over there.
She's adding up the total inches.
All right, so we can estimate that it weighs 642 pounds.
The sidewalls of the pumpkin can get about a foot thick.
They're not too good to eat.
That's a big question we get.
We take 'em to competitions and show 'em off a little bit.
So harvesting, obviously, a very exciting time.
We bring in a big lift.
We get it in place where we want it.
So now, I'm going to cut the vine
and get ready to pull it out of the garden.
Okay, I think we're ready to go up.
We lift it up. All right, hold on.
kind of inspect the bottom.
The main thing is probably a soft spot on the bottom
that any more than an inch into the pumpkin,
you're disqualified.
When you look under and there's no soft spots, it's a relief.
It looks good.
Nice and flat. That's what we want.
All right.
We can go put 'er on the pallet.
Little bit yet.
I like it. It's solid.
I've been watching them grow so fast.
I really think it's pretty cool.
The pumpkin growers are a close group of people.
The last week we kind of do a little trash talking.
I'm excited to go and see what they brought.
[forklift beeping]
Last year, when I had my 2,000-pounder,
I was very nervous,
but this year,
I know I'm not going to be quite that big
but it's a little more relaxed and not quite as nervous.
It is not about winning.
It is not about the prize money that you can get.
It's for bragging rights and just having fun.
- Mom, this is the biggest one in the world!
- Announcer: Coming up here right now is Derek Sippel.
He was the winner last year.
How much was your weight last year at, Derek?
- Derek: 2,047.
- Announcer: 2,047 pounds.
- Yeah, I think my dad thought I was probably crazy
and a lot of other family members.
When I had that one weigh over 2,000 pounds,
I think they're kind of like, "Whoa, that's pretty cool!"
- Announcer: 1,450. [applause]
Good size, but not quite as big as last year.
1,450.
- I guess it's not always about having the biggest fruit.
It's just about enjoying what you're doing,
and enjoying being outside and in the garden.
There's always next year.
That's the thing.
I'm already excited to grow next year.
[country music]
- Wisconsin has treasure troves of amazing people and resources,
including the laboratories and work
happening right here in La Crosse.
If you'd like to learn more
about the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
or the stories you've seen here,
visit WisconsinLife.org .
And as always, we want to hear from you.
Share your Wisconsin Life with us
by sending an email to WisconsinLife@wpt.org .
- Until we meet again,
I'm your host, Angela Fitzgerald
and this is our Wisconsin Life .
Bye. ? ?
[bubbling]
[boat motor]
- Funding for Wisconsin Life
is provided in part
by Alliant Energy,
Lowell and Mary Peterson,
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.