In Environmental Studies capstone seminars majors study a topic using multiple disciplines and develop academic civic engagement projects involving collaboration between students and the larger local community for the purpose of a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources. I developed a capstone seminar on restoration ecology as a way for students to learn ecological concepts from ecosystem properties to habitat types and biodiversity, as well as interdisciplinary topics such as adaptations, invasive species, natural history and global climate change. Through studying the theory and practice of restoration students developed research projects related to natural history, natural resource management and agroecology in the newly acquired Engeseth-Rinde Section of the Prairie Creek Wildlife Management Area owned by the Minnesota Department of Resources. Wildlife Management Areas are acquired to protect natural habitat for future generations and provide citizens with opportunities to use the land. The goal is to restore the wildlife area to tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, maple-basswood forest and small wetlands, community types found in this area at the time of European settlement. Students worked in groups of three or four, wrote a grant proposal and presented results of their research as a poster and written paper.
Results/Conclusions
Students provided background information and management ideas for the new section of the Prairie Creek Wildlife Management Area. Much of the 160 acres was in traditional agriculture, but there were also wetland and forest habitats. Student projects ranged from studies of hydrology and cover crops in the agricultural areas to characterization of the wetlands, forest areas and the old railroad grade. Other groups focused on human dimensions from oral history to views of potential stakeholders. Through these projects students developed skills in habitat assessment, field identification of specific groups of organisms such as trees or invasive species, and developed data handling skills from locating related data to data analyses. Students in this course gained the following: 1) knowledge of ecological concepts needed for successful habitat restoration, 2) experience in developing reasonable research questions, 3) ability to design and carry out a research project, 4) practice in presenting results of a research project in poster sessions and written paper format, 5) experience in working collaboratively as a group, and 6) experience in exchanging information with interested community members. Assessment of learning outcomes was through a final examination, oral poster presentation, and a written paper.