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Working at the Center has been an educational experience that rivals anything I have done in a classroom.
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The satisfaction of participating in a restoration project as it progresses from conception to completion is immense.
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The skills and knowledge gained from this experience will serve me for the rest of my life.
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Casey Peters
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I became involved with the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration in the fall of 2005. It was my first term at UCSB, and I had just recently moved to the area. I came to the Center to attend a seminar on restoration and quickly began volunteering with the CCBER restoration program in the natural areas on campus. I had always been interested in ecology and restoration, but I had no idea how much fun and rewarding it could be working on actual projects. I became familiar with many native plants, and the characteristics of the local plant communities.
The staff and volunteers at the Center are all wonderful people. I have never experienced anything but kindness and generosity. It is a community of people who love what they do to make UCSB a more beautiful and ecologically diverse place. I feel honored to be a part of that.
Through my involvement at the Center, I have had the good fortune of working independently on two projects. The first project was to develop a restoration plan for a potential wetland on the UCSB campus. The proposed area is currently dominated by an invasive grass, but it is evident that there is a strong freshwater influence. The goal of my project was to assess the feasibility of restoring this area to wetland by comparing the depth of its water table to that of an existing restored wetland. If it is determined that this area is an appropriate target for wetland restoration, the knowledge of the water table levels can be used to develop an effective grading plan.
During the summer of 2006, I completed a second project addressing resource use for management of both conventional and restored landscapes on campus. The project examined the environmental impact of resource consumption, such as water, fuel and toxic chemicals, and proposed ideas for lessening the impact. In doing this, it was important to identify the services that the land provides to the University and community, and how these needs are currently met. I recommended that a better monitoring regime for resource use could be devised to set and achieve sustainability goals. I also suggested that by implementing restoration practices in areas with conventional landscaping, and by better integrating conventional and restored landscape types through the use of bioswales and other buffers, the campus could further reduce its impact on the environment.
Working at the Center has been an educational experience that rivals anything I have done in a classroom. The satisfaction of participating in a restoration project as it progresses from conception to completion is immense. The skills and knowledge gained from this experience will serve me for the rest of my life. I am grateful that this amazing program exists here at UCSB.
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| Casey Peters installing index wells to evaluate the hydrology of a potential native wetland. |
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