Earth Month events in April at UW-Eau Claire

Lauren Jordahl, a junior political science major from Eagan, Minnesota, and director of the Student Office of Sustainability, is excited to offer some fun ways for students to connect with nature during April.

“We believe that Earth Month is a great time to demonstrate the importance of coming together as a community to support our planet,” Jordahl says. “It’s something that should be celebrated more than just one day or one month of the year.”

Madi Shafman, a fourth-year biochemistry/molecular biology major from Green Bay, is the Student Senate director for SOS, and she says it’s great to plan these kinds of events when fellow students are both thirsting to be outdoors and needing to relax ahead of finals.

“We want to provide some chances to de-stress just as the end of the semester rolls around,” Shafman says.

The ecotherapy events are:

• Speaker Ashley Beal: 1-2 p.m., Wednesday, April 1, outdoor amphitheater; rain site: Ho-Chunk Room (320), Davies Center. 
• “Indigenous Peoples, Worldview and Landscape” with Dr. Brian McInnes: Noon-1 p.m., Tuesday, April 7, outdoor amphitheater.
• UW-Eau Claire Greenhouse Tour: 11 a.m.-noon, Wednesday, April 8, meet outside Phillips Hall Bird Museum.
• Tour De Chancellor Bike Ride: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, meet at Stowe Fountain for start.
• Earth Day Cleanup with Honors Student Council: 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Sunday, April 19, meet at Haas Fine Arts Center.
• Plant and Pot Painting and Plastic-Free Pledge Tabling: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Wednesday, April 22, campus mall; rain date: Thursday, April 23, same location.
• Sunset S’mores: 6-7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 21, Chippewa Lounge; rain date: Wednesday, April 29, same location.
• Day on the Lawn: 4-6 p.m., Thursday, April 23, Towers Field, rain date: Thursday, April 30, same location.
• Meditative Yoga: 8 p.m., Monday, April 27, Towers Field.

The Main Event: Earth Fest 2026

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, April 18, Sonnentag Event Center
Free of charge for students and community

In a significant expansion of a traditional collaboration with county sponsors, UW-Eau Claire is happy to co-host the first ever Eau Claire Earth Fest at the magnificent Sonnentag Event Center on Menomonie Street. The major event sponsors of Earth Fest 2026 are:

• UW-Eau Claire
• The Student Office of Sustainability
• The Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy
• Waste Management

Partnerships and area organizers that have helped grow this event from the Earth Week Open House of past years include JONAH Environmental Task Force, Eau Claire County, Landmark Conservancy and Beaver Creek Reserve.

Lily Strehlow, campus sustainability coordinator, has been a lead coordinator for the event, a community day she calls an exciting and expanded version of an event previously held at The Brewing Projekt.

“We are expecting over 1,000 locals to celebrate Earth Month at this first-ever Eau Claire Earth Fest, and I cannot imagine a better place to host this event than the Sonnentag Event Center,” Strehlow says of the nation’s largest public university-operated, LEED gold-level-certified recreation center.

“We all have a role to play in making this world better for future generations,” Strehlow says. “Eau Claire Earth Fest is the perfect place to get started or recommit to sustainable action.”

All details of the Earth Fest activities can be found on the event website. A few key highlights include:

• Over 40 local and regional vendors offering information and/or sustainable products in categories like sustainable lawn care, renewable energy and waste reduction efforts.
• Workshops on topics like climate change, forest management, home garden/yard sustainability, biodiversity and area energy rebate programs aimed at reduction of environmental impact from personal energy use.
• A clothing swap.
• A Repair Fair hosted by McIntyre Library’s Makerspace.
• Bike collection for the UW-Eau Claire Bikeshare program.
• Field trips by bus to area locations conducting high-profile sustainability initiatives.
• A student sustainability research poster contest.

Strehlow emphasizes that planning for the event has been largely driven by Blugold students, and the day’s events and activities will give students tremendous opportunities to not only demonstrate their attention to sustainability, but their depth of knowledge as well.

“The student research poster contest is especially exciting,” Strehlow says. “Students will be invited to share their findings on topics such as textile waste, reduction of methane gases from grazing steer, biodiversity and many more,” she says. “We are offering an impressive $1,500 prize for the best poster, to be voted on by all attendees.”

Strehlow says that students have been involved in every element of planning and promoting Earth Fest, including graphic art students designing all promotional and informational materials for the day.

Student Emma Herfel serves as event coordinator for the Student Office of Sustainability, and she says the day will be “full of opportunities for students to volunteer or represent their various student organizations.” She says that time spent on the event can help fulfill specific graduation requirements as well.

“We will start set up around 7 a.m. that day, and we will rely on many student volunteers,” says the environmental biology major from Rogers, Minnesota.

“In addition to the participating student organizations, this big event is also an excellent opportunity for students to complete their community-engaged learning requirement through these volunteer hours.”

To learn more about Earth Fest or the ecotherapy events through April, visit the Earth Fest website and the Instagram account for the Student Office of Sustainability.