Great Lakes Projects

Wild Indigo Nature Explorations

Our Goals
Build lasting relationships between urban communities of color and their local natural areas.
What We’re Doing
We develop nature-based programming that reconnects communities to nature and builds local conservation leadership, with joy, optimism, and cultural relevance.
Young Wild Indigo participant looks through binoculars.

Wild Indigo Nature Explorations is a community engagement program that seeks to demonstrate the connection between healthy natural habitats and healthy urban communities, via activities that familiarize adults and children with the nature and wildlife that share the spaces where they live, work, and play. By building programs in collaboration with local partners, Wild Indigo helps to address the barriers that make natural spaces inaccessible to communities of color, begins to dismantle perceptions that nature is not for them, and works to facilitate connections between participants and the natural systems that surround them—including birds. 

Created in 2013, Wild Indigo was originally developed by Audubon Great Lakes, local partners, and community members to connect African-American and Latino families on the south side of Chicago to local nature. Alongside collaborative partnerships with Eden Place Nature Center, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Wild Indigo invites participants to get up-close with natural areas at their own pace, from local parks to state forests. Wild Indigo Coordinators organize experiences such as nature hikes where participants learn the basics of identifying local birds, overnight camping experiences to prepare participants for future visits on their own, and workshops on the importance of native plants for birds and other wildlife. 

Wild Indigo’s name honors the early days of the project’s development, when during the initial spring visits to Cook County Forest Preserves, the first group of engagement fellows came across wild indigo plants (Baptisia australis) everywhere they went. These purple wildflowers became a unifying feature of their experience, so when time came to name the program, the project partners chose Wild Indigo Nature Explorations. The name pays homage to a plant that is present in cultural traditions from various parts of the world, as well as referencing a part of Great Lakes prairie habitats that many birds rely on for food and  

Contact Troy Peters at Troy.Peters@audubon.org  for information about coming field trips, indoor programs, or partnering with us. 

Wild Indigo’s Impact Across the Great Lakes Region:  

  • In Chicago, IL, by focusing on the areas on the Southeast Side, Wild Indigo staff use nature-based art-making along with hikes, stewardship, and community science to help participants process their experiences and build knowledge and connection to local wildlife and habitats. This work also focuses on creating a deeper connection between nature, mental health, and wellness.  
  • In Detroit, MI, Wild Indigo staff helps foster participate-led educational environmental experiences. Working families looking for community for their kids, caregivers looking for restorative experiences, or teens looking to learn more about the environmental field, we build communities of practice and sharing to deepen connections with nature across the city.   
  • In Gary, IN, a key project focuses on building community connections at Hatcher Park and marshes around the Little Calumet River. Via promoting native plants to help beautify neighborhood yards, tree planting and care at local schools, and various types of monitoring efforts at the park, Wild Indigo staff worked to elevate healthy local environments as a key community issue. 
  • In Milwaukee, WI, over multi-week sessions, Wild Indigo trains teens to be leaders who will guide others through outdoor environmental experiences, community nature hikes, and restorative healing circles. Programs encourage mindfulness and coping strategies, key to more effective learning and leadership development.