The IPAW Education Committee convened for the first time in early October 2002 and held a second meeting on December 13, 2002. Jeremy Higgins was named Chair of the IPAW Education Committee during the first meeting. Both meetings were very productive and the committee is quickly identifying a mission and direction within the larger IPAW organization.

The Education committee's self-determined mission is: "To identify, develop and provide educational resources about ecologically invasive plants in Wisconsin." To this end, the committee members are assembling a database of known invasive plant related materials (i.e., websites, curriculum, paper resources, etc.) to be a central resource for people interested in learning more about invasive plants. Also, this activity will help the committee determine what resources are currently available so we don't attempt to recreate existing information.

Another Education committee activity is identifying who our (IPAW in general, but the Ed. Comm. specifically) audiences are and what their education needs might be. To accomplish this activity, a list of stakeholders was developed (see October and December meeting minutes) and sub-committees from the Ed. Comm. are spending time working through a methodology developed by The Nature Conservancy aimed at determining stakeholder needs. Sub-committee results will be discussed at the next Ed. Comm. meeting.

The Education committee continues to review progress made in the other IPAW committees and plans to begin communicating with them more in the near future. Our main thrust currently is to "find our feet" and become more comfortable with the purpose of the Education Committee. We view the IPAW website as an important tool for disseminating information about invasive plants in Wisconsin and encourage the Board to support improving it when possible.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, February 7, 2003 from 9:30am - 2:30pm at the Schmeekle Reserve Center in Stevens Point, WI. Everyone is invited to participate. Please contact Jeremy Higgins at 715-342-5741 or naturesmith@hotmail.com for more information regarding the Education Committee.