Environmental Studies – Â鶹ÊÓƵ Mon, 17 Nov 2025 20:51:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon_logo-32x32.jpg Environmental Studies – Â鶹ÊÓƵ 32 32 Innovative Storm Water Management Practices for the Rush Line Bus Rapid Transit Project /projects/innovative-storm-water-management-practices-for-the-rush-line-bus-rapid-transit-project-2/ /projects/innovative-storm-water-management-practices-for-the-rush-line-bus-rapid-transit-project-2/#respond Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:18 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/innovative-storm-water-management-practices-for-the-rush-line-bus-rapid-transit-project/ Read More... from Innovative Storm Water Management Practices for the Rush Line Bus Rapid Transit Project

]]> This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. The Rush Line is a future bus rapid transit line that will provide all-day, high-frequency
transit service in Ramsey County between Saint Paul and White Bear Lake by way of
Maplewood, Vadnais Heights, Gem Lake, and White Bear Township. The new infrastructure that will be constructed as part of the project will have storm water impacts that will need to be mitigated. Ramsey County project lead Frank Alarcon worked with students in Amir Nadav’s SUST 4004: Sustainable Communities Capstone to explore context-appropriate storm water management techniques that could enhance the aesthetics and recreational value of the areas surrounding the Rush Line’s stations and guideway. The students’ final report is available.

]]> This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. In 2011, Ramsey County set goals to reduce energy use and incorporate renewable energy into its operations. In its most recent Strategic Energy Plan, Ramsey County formally established goals to reduce carbon emissions across county operations by 30 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. However, the County lacked a strategic approach to achieve these goals. Ramsey County project lead Mary T’Kach worked with a team of students in Fred Rose’s PA 8081: Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Capstone Workshop to explore potential strategies and policies County departments could use to incorporate climate resilience and adaptation strategies into their programming, operations, and budgeting. The students’ final report, presentation, and a handout and poster summarizing the project are available.

]]> Ruston Way is one of the City’s most popular destinations, comprised of linear parks and recreation, interspersed with water enjoyment uses and commercial offices. However, the design of the waterfront dates from the early 1980’s and the use of the waterfront has changed significantly. The City of Tacoma and Metro Parks Tacoma have signed a memorandum of understanding to fund a mobility study and capital improvement plan for Ruston Way. This project would provide a complementary design challenge: to seek ways of re-integrating the gulches along Ruston Way with the waterfront. There are four gulches along Ruston Way: Garfield, Mason, Buckley and Puget Gulches. The final design concept would reconnect the natural topography and hydrology of the gulches to Commencement Bay while also maintaining the corridor transportation and recreation functions.

Livable City Year Contact Info
Teri Thomson Randall
Program Manager
terir@uw.edu
206.221.9240

University Faculty Contact
Nancy Rottle

Professor
nrottle@u.washington.edu
206.685.0521

Local Government / Community Contact
Stephen Atkinson

Tacoma Planning and Development Services

]]> /projects/ruston-way-environmental-design-challenge-2/feed/ 0 Conservation Planning /projects/conservation-planning-2/ /projects/conservation-planning-2/#respond Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:36:05 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/conservation-planning/ Read More... from Conservation Planning

]]> In an effort to reduce the amount of phosphorus in the Rock River Basin throughout Dane
County, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) concerted an effort to select several target areas most vulnerable to
pollution from phosphorus and other contributing factors of ecosystem degradation. Due to the
concentration of agricultural land around the Door Creek valley, accounting for approximately
48% of the total land use, it was identified as one of the sub-watersheds with the highest
agricultural phosphorus contributions to the Yahara River Watershed (Door Creek Watershed
Management Action Plan, 2016). However, agricultural contamination was only one factor
threatening the health of this ecosystem, the growth of residential development areas around
the area, amounting to 10%, has also presented several issues as well (Door Creek Watershed
Management Action Plan, 2016).
Extensive research on the levels of phosphorus has already begun within this project, and our
goal with this conservation plan is to build upon addressing the phosphorus issue and expand to
working to protect Door Creek from that and other main contributing factors to the loss of
biodiversity in this ecosystem.
For this project, we have identified three main targets to address the issue. The first target is
the aquatic species that live within Door Creek, we will measure the health of this target by the
biotic index of the macroinvertebrates that currently reside within the creek. The second target
is the Door Creek ecosystem, meaning the chemical composition and purity of the water, which
will be indicated by the level of algae within Lake Kegonsa, the outlet body of water for Door
Creek. Finally, our last target is the riparian buffer that surrounds Door Creek, which will be
identified by the total amount of ground cover and the proportion of native versus invasive
species of plants located within the buffer. The main threats to these targets include climate
change, phosphorus runoff, invasive species, and pollution.
This will be an important effort, not only to the native flora and fauna of Door Creek, but also
the the residents who live in the area and enjoy the recreational and health benefits that it
provides to them.
Residential development and agriculture in and around the Door Creek watershed pose a direct
threat to the biological diversity and water quality of the creek. Sustainable practices and
proper management are vital to the health of the ecosystem, as the future of Door Creek relies
on a concerted effort between Dane County and landowners of the Door Creek watershed.

]]> Dr. Robert Schmidt’s class, Living with
Wildlife, partnered with the City of Logan’s
forestry crew to prune some of Logan’s 11,000
street trees. As Dr. Schmidt’s class focused on
issues related to human interactions with
wildlife, this project gave students the
opportunity to assist with the actual
management of urban wildlife habitat, and
demonstrate how residents’ selection and care
of trees can impact urban ecosystems. Students
gained practical skills and also a better
understanding of urban tree management.
For Logan City, this project improved air
quality, enhanced urban wildlife habitat,
reduced infrastructure costs, and made
traveling on sidewalks safer, and beautified the
city.
Prior to the project, City Forester Joe
Archer came into the classroom and gave a
presentation on the aesthetic, health, and
safety reasons for pruning trees, and discussed
how to trim trees safely and effectively.
For the project, 88 Living with Wildlife
students signed up for 6 hours of service. No
more than 20 students could
sign up per shift and shifts
were spread out
over 2 weeks with 2
shifts per
day

]]> The number of urban deer in Logan
City is increasing and without management,
they will likely cause serious problems.
While some residents have expressed
concern and asked the City to address it,
others believe no action is necessary.
The experience of urban deer
population control in other Utah cities
suggests that this will be a controversial
activity. Consequently, it is important that
the City receives extensive public input to
inform decisions moving forward.
In order to gather the necessary
information, Dr. Mark Brunson assembled a
team of 8 students from the Quinney
College of Natural Resources, majoring in
Wildlife Science, Recreation Resource
Management, Environmental Studies, and
Conservation and Restoration Ecology, to
tackle the Urban Deer Management project.
The team worked with Dr. Brunson
to learn about urban deer management in
Utah and issues specific to Logan.
Then, Dr. Brunson’s students designed a
survey based on similar efforts in other
cities, and reviewed the academic literature
about urban deer management.
In order to achieve a representative
sample of Logan, students also developed a
sampling strategy to randomly select 600
households across Logan City, and created a
Spanish version of the survey. Furthermore,
all students were required to go through the
Institutional Review Board’s training and
certification program prior to participating
in the study.
In Phase 2 of the Urban Deer
Management project, students will
conduct data entry
and analysis, and
deliver a report of
their findings to
Logan City.

]]> Explore the potential for perennial food crops that can both provide the benefits of living cover and produce an economic return that would potentially incentivize greater participation by farmers.

]]> Explore the cultural history of Ahuska and Woodland parks.

]]> Dane County has many resources it provides to its citizens no matter what age, race, or gender. However, there is currently no complete, organized collection of all of these resources that can be accessed by the general public. The problem with this is that resources, such as homeless shelters, food pantries, libraries, and daycares in Dane County are difficult to find. Through this project, we have researched asset mapping and its current application in other cities in the United States by focusing on the demographic of single, low-income mothers searching for resources relating to childcare, healthcare, and food. The hope for the application of asset mapping in Dane County is that agencies that provide similar resources can connect and that citizens seeking out resources can have an easy and efficient way to find them. In addition, governmental agencies can see where there is a lack of resources in certain areas across the county and work to fix problem spots. We have come to the conclusion that an asset map of Dane County’s resources made accessible to the general public via internet would prove to be a successful and beneficial endeavor.

]]> The purposes of this report include assessment of current approaches to nutrient management that have potential for phosphorus reduction in Dane County’s lakes and watershed system. Building upon
initiatives Wisconsin, and comparing initiatives with other states, three options towards nutrient
management proved most compelling.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

University Faculty Contact
Tom Eggert
Environmental Studies

tleggert@wisc.edu

Local Government / Community Contact
Lauren Kuhl

Legislative Management System Specialist
Kuhl.Lauren@countyofdane.com

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