Course Description
An overview of the practices, component disciplines, and lexicons of ecological restoration, natural infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. Students will learn the concepts, theories, and applications of ecological engineering and restoration while gaining practical skills for being part of a project delivery team to carry out projects in the real world.
Athena Title
Found of Nature Based Engr
Prerequisite
ENVE 2610 or ENGR 2110
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will understand and describe important physical, chemical, and biological processes that affect ecosystem structure and function, biodiversity, and natural infrastructure performance.
- Students will explain, use, and illustrate mass balances, water balances, energy balances, and chemical balances as tools to help understand and describe ecosystem functions.
- Students will gain familiarity with approaches to ecological restoration of streams and rivers, wetlands and riparian areas, lakes and reservoirs, and coastal ecosystems.
- Students will apply concepts of ecological theory, including niche theory, metapopulation dynamics, life history, and population viability to understanding the mechanisms and functions behind ecological restoration, engineering, and natural infrastructure projects.
- Students will understand the planning process for large scale civil works projects that utilize nature-based solutions.
- Students will develop the capacity to serve as a productive and effective member of an interdisciplinary project delivery team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives for a large-scale natural infrastructure project.
Topical Outline
- Overview of ecological restoration, NI, and environmental engineering
- Historical and conceptual foundation for ecological restoration, & restoration ecology
- Historical and conceptual foundation for NI, NbS, and EWN
- Systems thinking & ecosystem ecology
- Ecological design principles
- Lake and reservoir restoration
- Stream and river restoration
- Riverine NbS & NI
- Wetland restoration
- Urban & agricultural constructed wetlands as NbS/NI
- Coastal restoration
- Living shorelines and other coastal NbS/NI
- Planning and design concepts for ecological restoration, NI, and NbS
- Ecological restoration, NbS, & NI for biodiversity conservation
- Engaging communities and stakeholders in implementing projects
- Monitoring and adaptive management
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
