U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet FS 2004-3058

May 2004

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin

Resources for Teachers and Students at the Upper Midwest 

Environmental Sciences Center

Center Foyer

Educational experiences abound at the 

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences 

Center (Center), 2630 Fanta Reed Road, 

La Crosse, Wisconsin. The main foyer 

is open to the public Monday through 

Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and 

students and teachers can tour the Center 

during those times. 

Educational displays and other learning 

activities are available for visitors: 

• Invasive species (e.g., sea lampreys, 

round gobies, zebra mussels, Asian 

carp [silver and bighead])

• Migratory songbirds

• Native freshwater mussels

• Radiotelemetry methods used to 

track fish and wildlife for research 

During a tour, students may also touch 

a lake sturgeon in a research laboratory 

and feed rainbow trout in the outdoor 

raceways. 

Learning Lab

The Learning Lab is a renovated research 

laboratory serving as an up-close learning 

environment. The indoor Learning Lab 

offers many displays including live fish, 

amphibians, reptiles, and fish preserved 

at all life stages,
Outdoor Classroom

The Outdoor Classroom is a handicapaccessible 600-ft. limestone screenings 

trail in the floodplain forest and over 

a backwater slough to an observation 

platform on Center grounds. Students 

from Longfellow Middle School’s 

School-on-the-River program helped 

build the interactive educational displays 

mounted on the walkway of this learning 

site.

All ages of students—from elementary 

school through college—can study a 

floodplain forest and river backwater 

habitat by viewing educational posters 

and displays of nearby animals and 

plants, or by collecting water, plant, 

or sediment samples to study. Tree 

species are labeled, and a display box 

on each labeled tree includes detailed 

information.

Restored Native Prairie Tours

Prairies historically covered large 

areas of the Upper Mississippi River 

floodplain. Agricultural development and 

fire suppession, however, have greatly 

reduced prairies in the Midwest. The 

Center was built on a relic sand priarie, 

and in 1997, approximately seven acres 

of Center grounds were restored and 

seeded as a natural prairie.

Schools can bring students on tours 

of the restored prairie, where a prairie 

naturalist will demonstrate the ecological 

value of prairie habitat and assist in 

the identification of prairie plants. Our 

prairie tours now feature an information 

kiosk and interpretive trail. 

Additional Resources

Visit our Web site:

http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/ for more 

resources for teachers and students. 

The Center Web site is a rich source 

on Center research programs, reports, 

and publications. The “Teachers and 

Students” section includes links to other 

Web sites about the Mississippi River 

and environmental education, a summary 

of educational opportunities at the Center, 

and interactive programs on radiotracked 

paddlefish and loons. 

For more information, contact—

Randy Hines

USGS Upper Midwest Environmental 

Sciences Center

2106 Fanta Reed Road

La Crosse, WI 54603

608.781.6398 

rkhines@usgs.gov