AN ON CAMPUS, COLLABORATIVE RESTORATION OF LANDFILL AND DEGRADED SUBURBAN ECOSYSTEMS

As urbanization has increased, native habitats have become increasingly fragmented in suburban areas. Habitat fragments provide fewer ecosystem services than large, intact ecosystems; however, restoration efforts can improve ecosystem services that benefit both the natural environment and the people living in the surrounding area. In this paper, a landfill and two degraded suburban ecosystems on Roanoke College’s campus in Salem, Virginia serve as a case study for an innovative on-campus, collaborative restoration in a suburban setting. Known as the Roanoke College Environment Center, this project has provided opportunities for undergraduate students, college faculty, and external community groups to participate in a number of experimental and educational restoration efforts. Presently, the Environment Center is being used as a field station for further restoration, research, and monitoring. Students have access to learning soil, ecological, and hydrologic field techniques such as soil sampling and analysis, quadrat surveys, aboveground biomass collection, and UAV imaging. It also continues to be used as a non-traditional setting for community-oriented environmental literacy events, as well as an educational space for Roanoke College classes. While outdoor classroom spaces are used on other college campuses, the Roanoke College Environment Center is novel in its mission to both restore a degraded suburban ecosystem while providing benefits to the students, to the college, and to the greater community through education.