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UW Restoration Ecology Network

This project spans all three UW campuses

The UW Restoration Ecology Network (REN) will serve as a regional center to integrate student, faculty and community interests in ecological restoration and conservation. This comes at a crucial time in the Pacific Northwest, as we struggle to cope with the conservation of endangered species and natural landscapes in the face of rapid human population growth and urbanization. We propose to create new, interdisciplinary curricula and undergraduate research capstone experiences in the realm of restoration that will bridge across the three UW campuses. We will utilize the diverse faculty expertise and availability of innovative restoration projects at each campus location to develop students' hands-on field skills. Mentoring networks of faculty, graduate students and undergraduates will enrich undergraduate practical experiences and foster graduate student training in curriculum development and teaching. A number of REN initiatives will directly create links among these academic endeavors, local community groups and active restoration professionals.

Contact:	Warren Gold Assistant Professor, Plant Ecology & Environmental Science Interdisciplinary Art & Science UW Bothell wgold@u.washington.edu
Allocation:	$364,536
Date Funded:	May 1999

Progress Report (Major Activities Fall 1999-Spring 2000):

1. UW-REN Curriculum

A) UW Restoration Certificate UW-REN has begun offering a certificate in restoration ecology to students at all three UW campuses. This certificate will allow students to demonstrate a substantial background in restoration ecology within the context of their degree program. The certificate requirements (25 credits) are:

Introduction to Restoration Ecology (junior-level; 5 credits)
Restoration-related courses (from an approved list - 10 credits)
UW-REN senior restoration capstone (10 credits)

In many instances these requirements would overlap with a student's degree program requirements. The introductory course and restoration-related courses would likely apply to many program requirements. A number of programs also have (or are planning) senior capstone experiences. We have initiated discussions with academic departments to allow some UW-REN capstone credit to fulfill (in whole or in part) these program requirements. This will likely involve cross-listing of the UW-REN capstone in various departments (as we have already done with Program on the Environment).

Academic advisors have been notified of this certificate in relevant departments on all 3 campuses. This summer we are producing an informational brochure about the certificate and refining our web site information to provide specifics. With limited publicity, we are still receiving many inquiries about the certificate and capstone from students within the UW and prospective students outside the UW.

B) UW-REN Senior Capstone

The UW-REN capstone has undergone considerable design over the past academic year. Much time was spent in contacting and meeting with organizations outside of the University to establish their participation (usually through submission of RFPs for potential student capstone projects). These groups were uniformly enthusiastic. Groups met with include (not a complete list):

Seattle Public Utilities
King Conservation District
City of Bothell
City of Redmond Parks Department
North Cascades National Park
WA Salmon Recovery Funding Board
Adopt-a-Stream Foundation

The capstone will be offered starting autumn quarter 2000. The capstone was widely advertised in the spring and we have 18 students already committed across the 3 campuses (9 UWS; 6 UWB and 3 UWT). A brochure has been developed (and is currently under revision) and distributed to potential students and clients. Considerable effort is taking place now in establishing the field sites, projects and securing the participation of project leaders (field trips, guest lectures, etc.).

C) Introductory Restoration Ecology Course

UW-REN steering committee members from all 3 campuses met through the past fall and winter to agree upon the important elements to be included in the UW-REN introductory course on restoration ecology. This course was further developed and taught at UW Bothell by Martha Groom in spring quarter. It is scheduled at UW Tacoma next spring and arrangements for offering the course at UW Seattle are underway.

D) Wetland Restoration Web Course

Kern Ewing and Caren Crandell are developing an interactive web-based wetland restoration course for use by students on all 3 campuses. This began in the spring and completion is expected in fall of 2000. We hope to offer the course in the winter or spring of 2000-2001.

E) Other Courses

Further development on other UW-REN courses is expected in the summer and fall of 2000. We are proceeding carefully to develop courses that interact strongly across campuses and disciplines. Concurrent offerings of complementary courses working on a shared field project is a potential model for such courses that has been used with success in other units (e.g., the Department of Landscape Architecture). We are also working toward these goals with an eye toward creating courses that can be sustained beyond the initial 3-year term of the Tools funding.

2. Restoration Project Analysis Archive

UW-REN is working with the Society for Ecological Restoration to create a web-based archive of restoration project analyses for our region. The archive will contain analyses of the plans, challenges, successes and failures of restoration projects in a uniform format (with text, data, maps, and photos). Students in the first quarter of the UW-REN capstone will contribute analyses to this archive, which will becomes a valuable community resource.

To initiate this archive, UW-REN will post analyses of the 3 intensive restoration sites near UW campuses (UWB: Truly Farms; UWS: Union Bay; UWT: Dickman Mill). Analyses have been completed by students for Union Bay and Truly Farms this spring. These will be converted to a web format during the summer and fall.

3. Student Independent Projects

UW-REN has coordinated the start of a number of independent student research projects, including:

A study of control methods for Juncus effusus at the Auburn racetrack mitigation wetlands
A study of the soil seedbank potential for natural regeneration at the new Environmental Learning Center site for North Cascades National Park
A site analysis and history of the Truly Farms UWB-CCC campus site

4. Symposia

UW-REN is developing a symposium on Restoration Education (from K-12 to professional training) for the April 2001 Society for Ecological Restoration Northwest conference. This symposium will explore the challenges and needs of education for restoration efforts through invited and contributed papers and a closing panel discussion. We will examine education across the K-12 system, colleges and universities, volunteers / public, and continuing education for restoration professionals.

UW-REN sponsored a half-day symposium on native plants at the UW Bothell Earthday 2000 celebration.

5. Community Outreach / Publicity

A) UW-REN has developed a Web page of UW restoration experts' contacts established for K-12 teachers to connect with UW faculty and grad students:

(http://depts.washington.edu/uwren/community/K-12volunteers.htm)

One example of activities arising from this is the current planning of restoration activities and themes in education at the Frank Love Elementary School (located near UW Bothell) by UW-REN and school educators and volunteers.

B) Considerable effort has gone into getting the word out on UW-REN, particularly to folks outside of UW. This has included articles in 2 professional society newsletter, a poster presentation at an international restoration ecology conference, informational mailings to firms and local governments (both conventional and electronic mail), and the development of our web site.

C) UW-REN is developing a survey to be sent out to prospective employers to help guide the planning of our curriculum and activities. The survey will be sent out in the fall.

6. Society for Ecological Restoration Collaboration

A) The Northwest Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) has moved its offices onto UWS campus at the Center for Urban Horticulture. This society is the premier (national and international) professional / academic organization for restoration. The move was done to facilitate strong interactions between UW-REN and SER.

B) A proposal for a student chapter of SER is under development and will be presented to the SER board in September. This appears to be the first such student chapter in the U.S. A student chapter in restoration will provide an important venue for students from different departments and campuses to interact with regard to restoration. A variety of activities will be developed including regular field trips, leadership participation of chapter students in local volunteer restoration projects, and development of the UW-REN / SER restoration analysis archive.

Tools for Transformation Funded Proposals