UERC Urban Ecology and Conservation Symposium

In a crowd dominated by scientists, environmental policymakers, and the like, it was interesting to be one of a small handful of architects who came to hear about what’s new in the Pacific Northwest urban ecology scene. While some topics were closely related to my thesis project (methods of oak savanna restoration, for example), for most of the day’s presentations I filled the role of an interested outsider. Discussions about salamander habitat monitoring or chemical contaminants in the Columbia River greatly interested me personally, if not quite so professionally.

However, there were a few moments when I felt like I was in on something that the rest of the crowd was not so privy to. The first came during the wonderful opening speech by Steven N. Handel, an ecology professor at Rutgers University who worked on the ecosystem restoration of Freshkills Park, once the world’s largest landfill. As he described his efforts on the project, he asked the scientific audience (and I paraphrase): “How many of you would invite humans into your newly finished restoration or conservation project site?” A handful of hands raised in the audience. Handel then asserted that despite the prevailing desire to keep people out of nature as it is being restored, he believes that bringing people into that nature is one of the biggest steps one can take to preserve the work being done. “Humans are a keystone species,” he explained, “They are the long-term stewards of the land.” Human action caused the ecological disruption in the first place, and if humans are not included and educated in the restoration process, they are likely to do it again.

This gets at a smaller part of my thesis (and the focus of my work for another class): examining the place of humans in the greater ecosystem, and the place of human communities alongside restored ecological communities. Reflecting on Handel’s words and those of Eric Strauss, I am beginning to formulate a greater picture of humanity as a force of good in the environment, and the environment as a force of good in the human community.

(Also, I cannot get away without mentioning the utterly astounding talk on mycology by the amazing Paul Stamets. To anyone who has not seen him before, you can check out his TED talk online).