(in Eastern Canada and Eastern United States only)
Organizations with special training needs may request customized seminars for their staff. Draft syllabi are available. Syllabi can be adapted to suit the special training needs and interests of your organization. If the seminar is designed with a special project in mind, project-consulting services are available after the seminar has concluded. Seminars that are scheduled for organizations are billed on a per-teaching-day basis, plus costs, rather than on a per-participant basis. Sponsors have the option to allow open registration by participants from other organizations (to assist with budgeting). Inquiries are welcome!
Applied Ecological Restoration: Introduction and Overview
Comprehensive reviews of underlying concepts and step-by-step
practical details in developing restoration plans will be presented.
Discussions will focus on plant sources, soil renovation, seeding
concepts, natural materials use, and exotic invasive species.
Participants will work with three-dimensional, hands-on models of sites
and problem areas. The emphasis will be on planning workable, reliable,
and affordable restoration plans for several different environments.
Freshwater Wetland and Upland Restoration in the Southeastern
Coastal Plain
Participants in this workshop will learn methods and strategies
for restoring longleaf pinelands, wet prairies, marshes, forested
wetlands, and scrub. Native seed collection/handling and control of
exotic species are emphasized. Restoration principles are reviewed.
Essential steps are presented for conducting restoration from start to
finish. The conduct of restoration within a mitigation context is
discussed. A one-day field trip characterizes ecosystems, their
disturbance, and their restoration.
Introduction to Bioengineering
This workshop explains the basic concept of bioengineering
using native plants and natural plant materials to perform corrective
service in disturbed and unstable natural environments. Methods,
materials, planning concepts, tools, designs, and implementation
procedures will be introduced. Both the ecosystem and watershed will be
discussed in relation to how they affect bioengineering designs. A small
field installation may be done, during which problem areas would be
viewed and discussed.
SER Guidelines and New Primer
This workshop explores what ecological restoration is, how it
is appropriately conducted, and why it is a crucial endeavor. Several
contexts for restoration will be described, including mitigation and
volunteer stewardship programs. Related activities, including ecosystem
management, reclamation, and rehabilitation, will also be discussed. The
workshop follows The SER Primer on Ecological Restoration and Guidelines
for Developing and Managing Ecological Restoration Projects, both
accessible on the website of the Society for Ecological Restoration
(SER).
Forest Restoration
Topics and exercises include alternatives to forest reclamation
and reforestation practices, developing native species selections,
densities, planting methods, soil improvements, use of commercial and
wild inoculants, and overall plan concepts. Herbivory, exclosures,
repellents, sources of planting material, native species ranges,
classical vegetation references, logistics, equipment, and other topics
will be covered. Field work will include on-site conceptual planning by
participants.
Restoration on Problem Soils
Using both ecological theory and case studies, this seminar
places the challenge of restoring sites having problem soils in the
context of the Law of Limiting Factors. Prior to restoration, an
inventory is made of potential limiting factors and their importance.
Limiting factors considered include those that are physical (e.g., soil
texture, moisture relations), chemical (e.g., nutrient deficiency,
metals toxicity, pH), and biological (e.g., seed bank, mycorrhizae). The
concept of minimal amelioration will also be stressed, in which limiting
factors are ameliorated only to the minimal degree necessary, in order
to avoid problems with weediness and competition.
Salvage of Plant Communities
This seminar focuses on long-term patterns of destroying native
land cover plant communities prior to development of sites, and
opportunities to destroy less while recycling those valuable live
materials. Participants will be provided with a detailed understanding
of unique opportunities that salvage offers restoration planners.
Information on tools, equipment, techniques, logistics, and timing will
be provided. Project success histories will be provided. The unknown and
unpredictable benefits of the soil seedbank and other propagules will be
introduced.
Applied Habitat Restoration in Flood-adapted Ecosystems
Key topics in this seminar include the range and variety of
pulsed ecosystems, species and community adaptations to flooding,
importance of site physiography, engineering concepts affecting
floodland restoration, and special considerations for urban hydrologic
regimes. Field trips will add practical insights on the recognition of
hydrologic status and restoration strategies at various scales. Field
sites will be critiqued to provide the participants with hands-on
problem-solving experience.