Humans and Their Role in Nature

Robert Jeske

In Wisconsin, humans have been the single most important species in determining the structure of the environment and landscape, and in the prehistoric development of horticulture since the last glaciers receded 12,000 years ago. 

Robert Jeske – a professor emeritus in UW-Milwaukee’s Department of Anthropology and the adjunct curator of anthropology at the Milwaukee Public Museum – will discuss these human roles Sept. 27, 6:30 pm, during a presentation titled “The Myth of Unspoiled Wilderness.” The Door County Master Gardeners Association will host Jeske’s lecture at Crossroads at Big Creek, 2041 Michigan St. in Sturgeon Bay. This program is offered in collaboration with Wild Ones of the Door Peninsula, in conjunction with Crossroads’ 2022 Fall Archaeology Experience.

Jeske will explain how archaeological research shows that our environment is an intricate community of plants and animals in which humans have played a fundamental part.

For the past three years, he has led a team of professional archaeologists in digs at Crossroads’ Ida Bay Preserve and the Cove Estuary Preserve in Sturgeon Bay.