Trinity Park Conservancy

Looking back on Week 5 and realizing we only have TWO WEEKS left with the Trinity River Crew! ⏳🌿

Time is flying, but the crew isn't slowing down! Here’s a look at everything we tackled last week as we push toward the finish line:

🛠️ TUESDAY: Joined forces with Texas Conservation Alliance at the Dallas Zoo to clear invasive plants on Monarch Mountain, explore the butterfly & reptile exhibits, and map out our latest iNaturalist.org goals!

🧪 WEDNESDAY: Headed up to Texas Woman's University University to connect with water scientist Dr. Kelly Albus! We explored environmental careers and got a hands-on demo on "tampling" a unique method for testing local water quality. 💧

🔍 THURSDAY: Crew turned teachers! We hosted youth from Wesley-Rankin Community Center down at the Trinity River levees, leading rotations on birding, plant ID, macroinvertebrates, and water chemistry.

🌱 FRIDAY: Greenhouse day with Texas Conservation Alliance! We cleared privet, learned plant propagation techniques, and wrapped up with an eye-opening talk on protecting migratory birds in Dallas. 🦆💡

Swipe through to see the crew in action! 📸

Greenspace Dallas

Weeks 3 & 4 in the books — and the Trinity River Crew has been busy! 🌿💧

Week 3 kicked off with storm drain marking through Uptown and Turtle Creek alongside David and Sam from the City of Dallas — a reminder that everything entering a drain flows straight to our river. 🌀 Then the crew headed to John Bunker Sands Wetland Center, where educator Susey Woodruff showed them how wetlands naturally filter our water before they got to work pulling invasive Johnson grass by the roots and birding the boardwalk with Merlin ID and eBird. 🦅

Week 4 took them to Ten Mile Creek Nature Preserve for trail cleanup and gardening with Dallas County park rangers, then to the Trinity River Audubon Center — once an illegal dump site, now a thriving preserve and a powerful example of environmental injustice reversed. There, the crew ran plant, bird, macroinvertebrate, and water chemistry surveys alongside TRAC educator Genesis and Gabriel Juarez, a 2025 TRC alum now interning at TRAC. Full circle! 💚

In between field days, crew members logged survey data, built solar power boxes with Rick, and made progress on the final presentations they'll share at the Trinity Park Conservancy office at the end of the summer.

All summer, the Trinity River Crew has followed the river through creeks, wetlands, and dam overlooks across Dallas. In June, they followed it all the way to where it ends: the Gulf of Mexico — and for many of our students, it was their first time ever seeing the ocean.

From seining for marine life with the Galveston Bay Foundation to spotting dolphins along the La Porte boardwalk and searching for gators at Sheldon Lake State Park, the crew got a firsthand look at where the river they've studied all season finally meets the sea.

Huge thanks to Galveston Bay Foundation for a full day of hands-on coastal science, and to the Foxwynd Foundation for helping make this experience possible. 💚

Read the full recap here:
https://bit.ly/44rLGXS

Trinity River Crew: Week 2 Recap 🌿

Our crew got hands-on with North Texas nature! They identified native plants and cleared invasive species at 12 Hills Nature Center, surveyed macroinvertebrates at Fraiser Dam to check water quality, netted dragonflies with Urban Wildlife Biologist Sam Kieschnick at Hines Park, and wrapped up the week canoeing the dam for a trash cleanup (a few unplanned swims included 😄). Another week of hands-on learning and conservation in action! 💧🌱

Wishing you a joyful Fourth of July from Trinity Park Conservancy! 🎆 As America marks 250 years of independence, we're grateful for the community, the freedom, and the story we all get to be part of. Happy birthday, America! 🇺🇸

📸

Trinity Park Conservancy is pleased to welcome our summer interns: Juana Arun, Symone Speed-Jones, and Santiago Jorba.

Over the coming weeks, they'll gain hands-on experience across our organization and dive into the work of bringing Harold Simmons Park to life.

Pictured here with our CEO Brian Kilpatrick — welcome to the team, y'all! We're glad you're here. 🌳

Through our partnership with Cistercian Preparatory School, Trinity Park Conservancy is taking environmental education beyond the classroom.

Students have dug into water quality testing, aquatic robotics, and real-world conservation challenges, guided by former Conservation Manager Jimena Vivanco and TPC's conservation team — connecting their learning directly to the Trinity River and its watershed. Our larger goal: expand these lessons to reach students across Dallas.

See how TPC is inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. (Link in bio) https://bit.ly/4xOVrg5