Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the further development and delivery of online restoration courses at the University of
Washington. The course is now taught as part of the University of Idaho online resto-
ration certificate program (http://www.cnrhome.uidaho.edu/certificates).
The wetland restoration web course was set up as a series of modules, with each
module covering one major subject area: wetland science, restoration ecology, fresh-
water wetland restoration, coastal wetland restoration, and monitoring and mainte-
nance. Each self-paced module includes informational lectures, required readings,
assignments, and a study guide, all accompanied by online discussions. Students are
directed in a review and critical analysis of at least one wetland restoration project in
their vicinity, through site visits, interviews, and collection of available documenta-
tion, and they must make a site visit to assess the success of the restoration. The cul-
minating online examination challenges students with various aspects of a retrospec-
tive design of an installed restoration problem that has not met its goals. This exam
includes traditional individual analyses of the problems and potential solutions, and
includes online group discussion and analyses.
Online teaching is beneficial because class information can be delivered to any-
place that has Internet access. A problem, however, is the lack of face-to-face interac-
tion. Telephone conversations or Internet chats make up some of the deficit, but it is
still difficult to assess whether a student is keeping up with assignments in work mod-
ules until the student has taken the test at the end of each module.
Other Courses
To do restoration effectively, it would be helpful to have some background in plant
identification, soils, invasive species management, horticultural practices, project
management, and plant ecology. It would also be a near-fatal flaw if one did not also
have a good feel for politics, volunteer management, government, and business. In
the courses that we have crafted to complete our palette of restoration education, we
have tried to include many of these elements. Courses that employ team projects are
exceptionally adaptable for allowing integration of social and cultural components of
restoration. Three examples of broad courses that have been developed include Na-
tive Plant Production, Restoration Design, and Ecosystem-Based Restoration.
Native Plant Production
This course teaches students low-cost and adaptable nursery techniques for producing
native plant material. Plant material is actually produced by the class; in any given
year students are collecting seeds, processing and planting them, growing them in the
nursery, transplanting or upsizing potted material, and holding material that is large
enough to be used in restoration projects. The goal is then to take the native plants
produced in this class and use them in other classes that are doing restoration installa-
tions. We have a fifty-six-acre natural area (a former landfill) on the Seattle campus,
and much of the plant material that is produced is used by classes that install several
restoration projects a year in the natural area.
