Peter Wyrsch
URI Internship Year:
2016
I'm a graduate student at Yale Divinity School studying the History of Christianity with a focus on environmental history. Prior to my graduate studies, I guided outdoor and environmental education trips for Farm & Wilderness Camps in Vermont and taught high school history at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory.
As an educator, I am passionate about finding dynamic, interdisciplinary solutions to social and environmental problems. I look forward to learning from my colleagues at the Urban Resources Initiative and from the community members with whom we'll be working!
Group
Greenspace Log
| Date | Category | Photos | Group | Summary | |
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07/30/2016 |
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**Tree Planted: Purple Plum** Tommy Joe, Willie, and I removed concrete and planted at a newly-cut pit, just down from the Hawthorn. |
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07/30/2016 |
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The Common Ground interns planted two Amelanchier on the Front St side of the Oasis. Several yards of topsoil and mulch were put down on the Middletown Ave side. |
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07/28/2016 |
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Today, one of the interns from SCSU's Oasis came down to BPP to take a look at the project. The Common Ground interns took the lead, planting on the berm between the Bow and the Spruceland. |
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07/27/2016 |
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The interns from Common Ground planted two Amelanchier in the Oasis. |
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07/27/2016 |
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FOEP and the interns from Common Ground planted two Amelanchier in the Oasis today! In the process, a rather large boulder was removed... |
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07/23/2016 |
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We put down topsoil, mulch, and perennials this week along with the interns from Common Ground. |
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07/22/2016 |
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NHLT came with their Youth Corps to help with work this week. We put down 1yd mulch in the Oasis, pulled invasives, and continued CG’s previous work on the 100 trees. We have successfully removed invasives from within the 100 trees. |
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07/20/2016 |
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Common Ground interns came out to water the plants and put in six new Ninebark and Winterberry, and a yucca. |
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07/20/2016 |
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Common Ground Students |
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07/20/2016 |
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Big planting day! Edgewood Park's Youth@Work came to help out the Common Ground interns and FOEP in the Oasis. Blueberry patches were planted, along with Witch Hazel and Bee Balm. |
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07/16/2016 |
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Common Ground worked on the corner of Front St and Middletown Ave today planting shrubs. Looking good! |
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07/16/2016 |
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Tommy Joe, Kadejah, Jeremy, and LaChara (new) came out to plant perennials and water around the existing trees. |
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07/15/2016 |
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Continued watering in the 100 Trees, starting from the Sound School side with the kids from Common Ground. |
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07/14/2016 |
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Common Ground Interns |
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07/14/2016 |
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Nan, Bill, and the kids from Common Ground watered in the Oasis in addition to pruning and caring for the nursery plantings. |
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07/13/2016 |
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Removed invasives around last year’s plantings with Dennis and CG. We also watered the plantings from last year. |
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07/13/2016 |
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Removed invasives with the FOEP and CG. Cleared out the area around last year’s planings and cut vines, invasives out from around the spring. Made a plan with Chris for next week's plantings. |
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07/09/2016 |
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Due to a death in the Thomas Chapel community, Pastor Lynes could not attend. Tommy Joe & I watered for an hour. |
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07/09/2016 |
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Common Ground and the Community continued culling invasives inside the Oasis, and at the corner of Front St. and Middletown Ave. They also provided water to last year's plantings. |
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07/08/2016 |
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Watered in the 100 Trees with the Common Ground kids, starting from the Sound School side. Despite drought stress, most appear to have weathered the difficult conditions fairly well. |
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07/07/2016 |
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The Common Ground kids helped repair the deer fence and provided water to the plants inside the oasis. With help from Nan and Bill, we also established a small nursery plot within the deer fence. |
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07/05/2016 |
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Removed invasives and continued to advance into the small forest of mugwort choking the site. Watered the trees as well. |
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07/05/2016 |
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Removed invasives with the FOEP and CG. Cleared out the area around last year’s plantings and cut vines, as well as removed invasives out from around the spring. Parks came by to install the new Oasis sign as well! |
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07/02/2016 |
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Today was the first day of work for the Common Ground interns at Dover Beach! Went out with the CG kids and the community to pull invasives from the Oasis. We removed invasives around last year’s plantings first, before moving to the space behind the butterfly garden. |
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07/01/2016 |
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Planted flowers and mulched around the hawthorn at 30 White St and mulched around an existing tree at 25 White St. Tommy Joe, Kadejah, and Jeremy came out to work. |
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07/01/2016 |
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Planted flowers and mulched around the hawthorn at 30 White St and mulched around an existing tree at 25 White St. Tommy Joe, Kadejah, and Jeremy came out to work. |
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07/01/2016 |
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The CG kids and I walked the length of the LWNP and picked up trash along the beach, in addition to clearing out invasives around the Oasis plantings from last year. |
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06/30/2016 |
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Today was the first day for the Common Ground Interns at Beaver Ponds Park! Invasives removal and fence repair with CG. Planted Atlantic Azalea, Andromeda, and Mountain Laurel along the embankment outside the deer fence. |
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06/29/2016 |
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This was the first day of work for the Common Ground interns at West River! We removed invasives around last year’s plantings. |
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06/29/2016 |
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Today was the first day of involvement for the kids from Common Ground High School! Removed invasives with the FOEP and CG. Cleared out the area around last year’s plantings and clarified the trail leading back to the Spring. |
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06/29/2016 |
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This was the first day of work for the Common Ground interns at West River! We removed invasives around last year’s plantings. |
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06/28/2016 |
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Inaugural tree planting on White Street! Planted a hawthorn tree in front of Thomas Chapel at 30 White Street. Tommy Joe, Kadejah, Terry, and Pastor Lynes came to do the work. |
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06/27/2016 |
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FOEP met in conjunction with a local book club to plant a cherry tree in memory of one of its members. The planting was well attended, and the work went quickly. After the tree was in the ground, words were said. This was a moving and meaningful experience. |
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06/23/2016 |
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Members of the Dover Beach Park group got together to discuss additional mulching and maintenance around the butterfly garden. |
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06/22/2016 |
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FOEP put down mulch and watered around the plantings from last week, in addition to putting new mulch down around the signs along Whaley Ave. |
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06/18/2016 |
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This week, Tommy Joe, Kadeja, and I went out into the neighborhood to pass out flyers and tell the community about our work. Indefatigable as always, Tommy Joe enthusiastically sold the project to as many people as would answer their door at 10am on a Saturday. |
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06/17/2016 |
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Met with staff from NHLT at the Oasis on Friday in order to do an inventory of the site’s survivals. |
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06/15/2016 |
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FOEP assembled a great team on Wed to clear invasives and plant 3 Arrowwood Viburnum and 4 Penstamon in the triangular area where two trails come together at the bridge over the West River. |
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06/11/2016 |
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This group had its first formal meeting this week! It was small; just Tommy Joe, Pastor Lynes, Jeremy, and Kadiedra. But we were able to nail down a concrete set of interests within the Thomas Chapel community present there. Additionally, Pastor Lynes signed a permission form to begin lead testing in the front yard of Thomas Chapel. I’ll take the samples this coming week and get the samples off to the lab as soon as possible. |
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06/08/2016 |
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FOEP assembled a great team to weed out the beds around the Gazebo at the Whaley St. Entrance. |
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06/07/2016 |
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Met to do a walkthrough of the Oasis and discuss plans for this year's plantings and maintenance, as well as Audubon's designation of West River Memorial Park as an Important Bird Area on 11 June. |
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06/07/2016 |
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Planning meeting and walkthrough of Edgewood Park |
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06/01/2016 |
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Worked with Nan & Bill to remove chain-link fencing and install deer fencing around the Urban Oasis. |
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05/31/2016 |
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Met with Pat to plan work for the Oasis site and Butterfly Garden |
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05/31/2016 |
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Met with Nan & Bill to discuss specifically plans for the Urban Oasis site. |
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05/28/2016 |
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Tommy Joe and I did a walk-through of White Street on Saturday. He outlined his vision and what changes he’d like to see in his neighborhood. |