Wayne County

Thank you for your interest in the Michigan Conservation Stewards Program (CSP), an educational program for those who are enthusiastic about learning science-based ecosystem management principles and sharing this knowledge with others to help improve their local communities. Through this program, participants will learn essential strategies to understand and help restore and conserve ecosystems in Michigan communities. 

The Wayne County cohort will host their weekly sessions from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursdays, from Aug. 27 to Oct. 22, 2026. Weekly sessions will meet throughout Wayne County at the locations listed in the chart below. Location details and more information will be distributed to registered participants in the middle of August. Please note, there will not be a weekly session on Oct. 15, 2026.

Wayne County's field days will be on Saturday, Sept. 12 and Oct. 10, 2026. 

Register for CSP: Wayne County

Wayne County Schedule 

Date

Topic

Location

Speaker

Aug. 27

Foundations of Conservation: Ecological Foundations; What is a Natural Community?

Nankin Mills Interpretive Center,
33175 Ann Arbor Trail 
Westland, MI 48185

Rachel Hackett, MNFI, Wayne County Parks, and Bill Craig

Sept. 3

Foundations of Conservation: Society & Conservation/Conservation Heritage; Indigenous Perspectives on Conservation (Past and Current) 

Belle Isle Nature Center, 
176 Lakeside Dr, Detroit, MI

Anna Cone, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Antonio Cosme, Friends of the Rouge Park and Black to the Land Coalition, and Ryan Vance & Mike Reed, Detroit Zoological Society

Sept. 10

Terrestrial Ecosystems: Grasslands

Sibley Prairie, 
26360 West Rd
Brownstown Township, MI 48134

Tyler Bassett, Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI), Jack Smiley, Michigan Land Conservancy & Save Sibley Prairie Coalition, Alan McTaggert, Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy

Saturday, 

Sept. 12

Field Day: Terrestrial Ecosystems

Palmer Park & Detroit Exploration and Nature (DEN),
1313 W Seven Mile Rd
Detroit, MI 48203

Detroit Partnership for Food, Innovation and Learning (DPFLI)
16745 Lamphere, Detroit, MI 48219

Kate Gmyrek, City of Detroit, Stacy Varner, People for Palmer Park, and Naim Edwards, MSU Extension

Sept. 17

Aquatic Ecosystems: Wetlands

Detroit International Wildlife Refuge/Lake Erie Metropark,
5437 W Jefferson Ave
Trenton, MI 48183 

Bob Burns, Friends of the Detroit River

Sept. 24

Aquatic Ecosystems: Rivers/Streams

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park,
1801 W Jefferson Ave
Detroit, MI 48216

Erin Parker, & Kevin Arnold, Huron-Clinton Metroparks, Kamryn Gardner & Ella Cramer, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy

Oct. 1

Aquatic Ecosystems: Inland/Great Lakes

Lake Erie Metropark Food Bar,
32481 W Jefferson Ave
Brownstown, MI 48173 

Kevin Arnold, Huron Clinton Metroparks, Anna Boegehold, International Joint Commission (IJC)

Oct. 8

Terrestrial Ecosystems: Forests 

Maybury State Park Trailhead Shelter, 
49601 8 Mile Rd Northville, MI 48167 

Therese Poland, US Forest Service Research, Lisa Perez, US Forest Service

Saturday, Oct. 10

Field Day: Paddling Experience with FOTR

Rouge River

Herman Jenkins, Friends of the Rouge River

Oct. 15

Break - No Class

Oct. 22

Putting it All Together: Capstone Project Celebration

MSU Detroit Center,
3408 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48201 

Jamie Burton, Hubbell, Roth & Clark 

For cohort and content related questions, please reach out to Lisa Perez at lisa.perez@usda.gov, or Bindu Bhakta at bhaktabi@msu.edu. 

For general questions and registration assistance, please contact Shelby Warner at warner80@msu.edu. 

Register for CSP: Wayne County