Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Restoration Certificate
As described earlier, UW-REN offers a twenty-five-credit certificate in restoration
ecology that may be taken by undergraduates, graduate students, or nonmatriculated
students. The Capstone course (ten credits) is a required part of the twenty-five cred-
its, as is Introduction to Restoration (five credits). Introduction to Restoration is taught
at each of the three UW campuses. The remaining ten credits may be earned by tak-
ing restoration or associated courses that are available at each campus. Thus, the cer-
tificate represents both academic and applied experience in ecological restoration in
addition to the depth of academic expertise in their major field of study. Well over a
hundred certificates were granted in the first seven years of the program. Students see
the certificate as valuable in helping them get jobs in natural science, management,
or design professions. This encourages them to take restoration courses, which allows
us to offer a wider variety of courses for their training.
Introduction to Restoration Course
Restoration ecology is an integrative practice, requiring basic background knowledge
of science and ecology. For that reason the introductory course in restoration ecology
is offered to junior-level students who have taken a number of lower-level courses. In
this course we introduce the history and philosophical underpinnings of restoration.
The theoretical basis of restoration in ecological science is developed through con-
cepts such as succession, nonequilibrium response to disturbance, and competition.
The importance of horticulture and other applied approaches is presented. We strive
to have students recognize that implementing and understanding effective restoration
in urban, rural, and even wildland settings goes beyond the scope of the natural and
applied sciences. There is also a community element of restoration, since it is done by
people and very often depends on the political support of people. Politics are impor-
tant, and so are the cultural and spiritual relationships that often exist between hu-
mans and the land. Further, the course examines legal requirements for restoration,
and this allows us to illuminate the differences between mandated restoration and vol-
untary restoration. Critical analyses of the outcomes of past projects are used to focus
students' attention on potential obstacles to successful restoration.
EXAMPLE OF A PROJECT
The introductory class is attended by students with a range of backgrounds but not
necessarily a history of experience in restoration projects. The class has a lab section,
in which we read and discuss papers, visit restoration project sites, and do a restoration
installation. The installation is done at the UWNatural Area; it is done as a project by
the entire class, and usually takes place during two or three lab sessions (fig. 24.4).
The most recent project was along a drainage channel that is flooded by the back-
waters of Lake Washington. The channel runs among sports fields and parking areas,
