Progress 05/06/20 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Healthy urban forests can help municipalities achieve goals of environmental, social, and economic sustainability while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere. The urban landscape can be understood as an urban ecosystem, with each part relating to and affecting the whole. The urban forest functions in this urban ecosystem by mitigating harmful environmental issues, such as air and water pollution. It also functions as a location for recreation and escape from the stresses of urban life. By shading and sheltering buildings, trees reduce cooling and heating costs and, simultaneously, greenhouse gas emissions. Even in urban settings, our health and welfare can benefit from exposure to natural settings. The benefits of urban trees are many (ICLEI, 2006). The aim of UDC urban forestry and native plant nursery extension project is to educate and train a group of skilled and engaged citizens in Washington DC who will be the stewards of our natural environment and to teach these skills to others. We willaccomplish our goals and objectivesthrough the UDC Master naturalist program, workshops, volunteer activities and collaboration with other institutions and entities. Our aim is not just about training people, but connecting them to projects that need their help related to natural resources conservation in their communities. We improve public understanding of natural resource ecology and management and enhance existing natural resource education and outreach activities. We aim to train a local corps of "master volunteers and service providers" to offer education, outreach, and service dedicated to the understanding and management of natural areas within their communities. The program provides opportunities for continuing education, through specialized courses in areas such as field natural and urban forestry and cultural history, urban ecology, citizen science monitoring, interpretation and the arts. The program also creates a network of local conservation groups, agencies and projects to connect UDC urban forestry extension work with service and outreach opportunities. The program output will be shared through, factsheets, university webpage, community meeting and conferences to elevate the visibility and impact of the program and its mission. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project enabled us to extend our DC Master Naturalist program and have 25 students who joined our program in 2020. In addition, we hired a student intern who learned about the native plants, how to manage a native plant nursery and how to work with community members. Furthermore, the RREA fund helped us equipped our native plant nursery with new tools and enabled us to build new collaboration with city agencies to engage into ecological restoration projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, the project results are shared with the community through newsletters and conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are working to expand and enhance our master naturalist program and be engaged in more significant ecological restoration across the city.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. UDC Native Plant Nursery: The UDC Native Plant Nursery was stocked with new seedlings and seeds in February, 2020. Report Date 03/15/2021 Page 1 of 3 United States Department of Agriculture Final Report Accession No. 1022782 Project No. DCRREA1 In March, twenty-one DC Master Naturalist Trainees participated in training and contributed volunteer hours to help initiate plant care regimens, identify native species, and learn about native plant ecology and physiology. Due to the COVID-19, nursery operations had to be suspended from April, resulting in a need to restock in September. Utilizing RREA funds, an undergraduate intern was hired as native plant manager and has been reestablishing the nursery. Now we are growing and leading DC Master Naturalist members during volunteer activities, and a total of 1900 plants from 24 native species in the nursery.. 2. Partnership development: During FY 2020, UDC further invested in DC Master Naturalist (DCMN) program and native plant nursery partnership development. Partnerships allowed UDC to work collaboratively with many DC departments, non-profits, and the USDA Forest Service, amongst others. New research and education partnerships are being established with e.g. the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the National Zoo, the Natural History Museum, the DC Citizen Science Network, and the National Parks Service. 3. UDC Master Naturalist program: UDC trained 21 DCMN students in the 2020, facilitated volunteer opportunities for those students, and started planning and organizing for the 2021 program. RREA funding supported the creation the UDC Master Naturalist Program and electronic resources to support and facilitate remote learning and service opportunities during the pandemic. 4. Urban Forestry Research: RREA funding enabled UDC to build a capacity through a USDA Urban Forestry research grant and work with the DC Department of Transportation Forestry Division to investigate oak tree decline in DC and educate UDC undergraduate and graduate students, DCMN students, and other community members to learn about urban forestry. 5. Kingman Island Ecological Restoration: The native plant nursery operations and DCMN volunteer activities are connect to the on-going collaboration with DOEE focusing on ecological restoration on Kingman Island, a human-made island serving as a flagship restoration project for DC government. We will work towards providing native plants, research expertise, and student volunteers..
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Agricultural Extension Conference in Chicago, 2020
|