Quick video of the capstone project is found here
and several videos can be viewed via TikTok at ubna.restoration https://www.tiktok.com/@ubna.restoration?lang=en
The Union Bay Natural Area (UBNA) is part of the University of Washington Botanical Gardens. While it is now revered for wildlife viewing and a peaceful destination for a break from the densely populated urban environment surrounding it, UBNA was once the site of a major landfill for the City of Seattle from 1925 to 1966. In 1971, the landfill was capped with clay and planted with European pasture grasses. In 1972, the UW became owner and manager of the site. Invasive species, particularly Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinaceae), and Scotch broom (Cystisus scoparius) dominated the area and have continued to hinder restoration efforts. Since the 1990’s, numerous restoration activities, primarily under the direction of Professor Kern Ewing, had been initiated with the help of thousands of students and volunteers.
The restoration site at UBNA at Ravenna Creek is one of the latest efforts, involving students from Professor Sharon Doty‘s classes and volunteers in the Society for Ecological Restoration. With only about one foot of soil above the hard clay landfill cap, plant establishment has been challenging. Poplar (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.) are “pioneer” plant species with the ability to establish in particularly difficult environments. They are they are also adept at “phytoremediation”, the use of trees for removal of environmental pollutants.
Autumn 2022 and winter 2023 students: Hunter Wade, Montana Thoroughman, Allegra Novakoski, and Kyra Hopkins have provided information and a video about their project at this site.
Spring and summer quarters 2023, the team includes Apollo Normet, EmmaRose Lowery, Eva Rueter, and Dario Rojas. To raise money for the costly task of site restoration, the team set up a GoFundMe account. Thank you for the generous donations enabling the team to purchase some of the much-needed supplies! Please click on the GoFundMe link for current news and photos about the project. We also have updates viewable on TikTok (search ubna.restoration). The written reportSpring-Summer2023_UBNA Restoration FINAL report on this capstone project describes what this team accomplished in their capstone.
Aut 2023-Wtr 2024: Apollo Normet, Grace Luo, Gersh Botvinnik, Mary Zevely, and Elizabeth Richmond did capstones or undergraduate research projects at the site. Mary made a figure and Grace made a poster describing the project. The team focused on removing more Himalayan blackberry and planting a riparian buffer of poplar and willow to protect Ravenna Creek from any pollutants coming from the landfill. Grace Luo and Elizabeth Richmond wrote a detailed report on their restoration work at the site
Tax-deductible donations to support our work can be also made to the Plant Microbiology Research Fund or to UW Botanic Gardens.