Could you talk about how Washington
Square Park Eco Projects was
conceived and founded?
GSS: When I moved to Greenwich Village in
2009, I was immediately attracted to Washington
Square Park. Obviously, it is a famous place.
It is a historic park. It's a NYC institution. The
arch and fountain are attractive, but I was
drawn to the trees! Makes sense, right?!
I looked for information about the trees in the
Park and finding none, with the exception of urban
myths about the English elm (Ulmus procera)—
more about that later—I decided to create an
online map of the Park's trees. Around the same
time I was also learning about the stream that used
to flow aboveground in the neighborhood, and I
wanted to include that information in the map.
I recruited a local acquaintance to co-run a fund-
raising campaign on the Ioby platform. We met our
fundraising goal and I worked with a GIS developer
to design the map. After we launched the map,
I realized Washington Square Park Eco Projects
(WSP EP)—known as WSP Ecology at the time—
could do more. I renamed the initiative as WSP
EP. My co-founder stepped down but was briefly
involved as an advisor to the "new" organization.
WSP EP is not a 501c3—and that has presented a
significant challenge for the work—but through part-
nerships, EP has kept going. One of the components I
wanted to add to the initiative was longitudinal wild-
life observation—in particular, bird surveys. I would
not have called myself a birder in 2016 so I reached
out to a friend, Loyan Beausoleil, who is an excellent
birder and asked if she would like to partner with me
on developing the Park's bird program. Thankfully she
said yes, and off we went. We are now a staff of two.
Another essential partner has been Street Lab (for-
merly the Uni Project) with whom we developed
EXPLORE BIRDS, our mobile education program.
We piloted the program with a co-written grant
from the Blake-Nuttall Fund. I've staffed Street
Lab's more comprehensive EXPLORE NYC pop-up
science exhibit. WSP EP has also provided pro-
gramming for New York University and Green
Below 14, and I received a Creative Engagement
grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural
Council to support EXPLORE BIRDS in 2020. >>
WSP's location within NYC. Wikimedia / Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
urban-forestry.com 17
