Hello Everyone,
Are you interested in green infrastructure, watershed management,
urban land use, and translating science to solutions? At the upcoming
Ecological Society of America (ESA) 2017 meeting in Portland, Oregon
this August, the Earth Stewardship Initiative (ESI) Demonstration
Project is organizing a learning from the city program. Working in
conjunction with the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
(BES), we will evaluate Portlands green infrastructure (GI) design and
implementation practices and propose design research and monitoring
strategies to inform their process. We will do so through a field trip,
targeted workshop, and writing session during the ESA. We now invite
applications for as many as 30 ESI Student Fellows to participate in
this exciting project.
Since 2014, ESI has collaborated twice with representatives from
the cities where the ESA conferences were held and brought together
multiple local organizations and academic institutions.
(https://www.earthstewardshipinitiative.com/) ESI solicits fellows from
around the country to work with city officials, practitioners, and ESA
organizers on large-scale land planning projects. Participants
collaborate on an urban design process to generate sustainable design
strategies, and propose ways of improving research methods for these
projects through designed experiments and other adaptive management
tools. ESA 2017 offers unique opportunities to evaluate current GI
design for the City of Portland and to develop designed experiments with
a team of senior ecologists, ecology students, and city managers.
Portland is a national leader in implementing green infrastructure, and
has established a city-wide green network drawing on considerable
experience with GI design, implementation, monitoring, maintenance, and
community engagement.
Prior to the meeting, selected ESI Fellows will review
synthesized materials from Portland and participate in a conference call
with ESI advisors and the City. At the ESA meeting, fellows will attend
an organized field trip on August 8 to Portland GI sites with BES
officials, and discuss how research can be integrated into the design of
these built environments to assess their ecological value and add
ecological function. During a subsequent workshop organized on August
10, fellow will collaborate with senior ESA research scientists,
landscape designers, and city managers to develop strategies around the
design, engineering, and maintenance of local GI for future integration
of ecological research. Workshop participants will engage in a
collaborative brainstorming session to develop strategies for
integrating experimental research into GI projects. Following the
workshop, fellows will hold a writing sessions to synthesize materials
from the field trip and workshop and make recommendations for
integrating monitoring and research through designed experiments and
other adaptive management tools for GI in Portland. After the meeting
fellows will use this synthesis work to complete a white paper on
Portlands GI implementation, leading to potential scientific
publications. Fellows will also benefit from opportunities to network
with ESA scientists and City of Portland BES officials.
ESI fellows are expected to: 1) register for and attend ESA 2017
for both the field trip and workshop, 2) review materials and attend the
conference call and planning session, 3) attend the workshop, field
trip, and writing session during the ESA in Portland, and 4) dedicate
several days of remote work following the conference to edit and
complete the white paper. Funding will be available for outstanding
fellows to cover conference and transportation costs. To apply, please
send a one-page statement of interest and resume/short CV as a single
PDF document to Yishen Li (yishen...@yale.edu) by May 20th. We look
forward to working with you!
Best regards,
Alexander Felson, PhD
Registered Landscape Architect, Certified Senior Ecologist
Associate Professor
Yale School of Architecture
Director, Joint Degree Program
School of Architecture and School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Director, Urban Ecology & Design Lab www.uedlab.org
