Engaging with the Local Community

As visitors to conference host cities we share space with residents and contribute to their economy. We can be more than transient tourists by learning about and connecting with host city communities. This process of reciprocity can enrich our time there and give us insight into ways that we can engage with and serve both our host and our home communities.

We invite conference participants to join us in thinking about how we can meaningfully engage with host communities while attending conferences. Questions to get the conversation started include:

• How can we connect local experience, culture, and knowledge with our conference?
• How do we demonstrate reciprocity with the community where the annual meeting is held?
• How could engaging this experience, culture, and knowledge influence our research?
• How could the process of incorporating local perspectives benefit the communities living where we hold our conference, allowing us to give back in a way that uses both our expertise as BER practitioners and humility as guests of the community?
• What can we learn from the local community about different ways of living, knowing, and loving each other?

Experiencing local culture through visiting and supporting local businesses and connecting with community-based organizations can allow us to meaningfully engage with our hosts while at the SABER Annual Meeting. The Place-Based Subcommittee has curated a list of suggested local businesses and activities to enrich your experience at our host location. 

Communi-Tea Stop : Saturday, July 11, 7 - 8 am (Stop by after the Fun Run or on your way to the STEM building)
Take a brief pause to learn about Native Michigan plants and the important role they play in our ecology with Beal Botanical Garden. As part of this stop, you will use edible native plants to make tea bags to take back and brew at your leisure.
Location: at the river sidewalk between the Red Cedar River and Beal Botanical Garden. Look for a big green historical maker along the sidewalk and grassy area

In the Community:

MSU food bank and basic needs center: https://uhw.msu.edu/health-and-wellbeing-services/basic-needs

Nokomis Cultural Heritage Center:https://nokomis.org/ 

Giitigan, an indigenous community garden in Nkwejong II Lansing MI (“Where Rivers Meet”) :https://www.giitigan.org/

Allen Neighborhood Center Allen Neighborhood Center - An Eastside Community Hub
The Allen Neighborhood Center is a wonderful community organization that does so much, including growing food for the community as well as collaborating with the indigenous garden, both in a public park called Hunter Park - in *Eastside Lansing

Black Owned Businesses : 

• Black History, Culture, Businesses | Lansing, MI

• https://www.lansing.org/things-to-do/multi-cultural/african-american-culture/#localBusinesses 

• https://lansingfoodies.com/blog/f/black-owned-businesses

• https://greaterlansingareamoms.com/black-owned-businesses-in-greater-lansing/ 

Hispanic/Latino owned businesses:

• Hispanic Culture | Lansing, MI

• https://cafecitocaliente.com/latino-business-directory/

Multicultural:

• Discover Diverse Events & Celebrations in Greater Lansing

• LGBTQIA+: Events & Capital Region Pride - Lansing, MI | Choose Lansing

• Lansing's 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Center

• Local, Regional, & National Resources | The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center | Michigan State University

Small, local businesses: Shop Small, Shop Local

Rx Kids: Initiative from MSU, nation's first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription

Self-guided tour options/features:

1. Self- guided Tour of MSU: https://tour.msu.edu/sites/default/files/users/user4/MSU_Self-Guided-Tour_digital_accessible_2026.pdf 
   
   
2. Digital tour of MSU: https://tour.msu.edu/locations/campus 
   
   
3. The Rock at MSU https://virtualtour.msu.edu/tour/campus-highlights-tour/the-rock/
   
   
4. Beal Garden : Tours | Beal Botanical Garden & Campus Arboretum 
   Recommended:
   ‘Untold Stories: Birth of American Rootwork (#9)
   Untold Stories: Exploring the Plants of Curanderismo (#4)
   
   
5. Horticultural Gardens (includes trial garden, perennial garden, 4-H children’s garden, Arboretum): Visit - Department of Horticulture , Garden Map
   
   
6. MSU Broad Art Museum: Wednesday - Sunday, 10 am - 6 pm, Free
   Plan your visit: https://broadmuseum.msu.edu/visit/ 
   Current exhibitions https://broadmuseum.msu.edu/art/current/ 
   Digital Collections: https://museum.msu.edu/explore/collections/ 
   
   
7. MSU Museum: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm, Free
   https://museum.msu.edu/visit/visitor-information/
   Current Exhibitions: https://museum.msu.edu/explore/exhibitions/
   
   

8. MSU Multicultural Center 
   
   

9. MSU Planetarium: https://www.abramsplanetarium.org/
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUrDifTKXPw : Anishinaabe Star Knowledge in the Planetarium 
   
   

10. MSU dairy store: Cashless! Find current flavors here: https://msudairystore.com/ 
    Main location is open during construction: Parking and location details can be found here https://msudairystore.com/  Tues - Sunday 12 pm - 9 pm 
    Dairy Store Trailer: located close to The Graduate! On campus outside of The Union Building (49 Abbot Rd), Monday - Sunday, 2- 8 pm  
    
    

11. Facility for Rare Isotope Beams
    http://frib.msu.edu/ 
    https://frib.msu.edu/public-engagement/tours

Special thanks to the Place-Based Subcommittee for their planning efforts: 

Cathy Ishikawa (California State University - Sacramento)
Jenifer Saldanha (Michigan State University)
Dimitri Smirnoff (University of Minnesota)