Operation Restoration

Operation Restoration

Two years after emerging as a focal point for the College’s future, the ESF Restoration Science Center (RSC) has established itself as a global force for efforts to improve the health and sustainability of ecosystems around the world.

“The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2021–2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. On a global scale, nothing is more relevant to the future of the planet,” said Dr. Don Leopold, a Distinguished Teaching Professor who co-directs the center with Dr. John Farrell ’91, ’98, aquatic and fisheries science professor.

The name itself tells the story. “Restoration is a hopeful, intentional and meaningful way to reset our relationships with the environment. Science is the questions, tools and knowledge gained to learn, educate and adapt. Center is our community of diverse people with novel ideas, abilities and a shared commitment to a better future,” Farrell said.

Encompassing projects at levels from individual species to entire ecosystems, and across a range of terrestrial, wetland and aquatic environments, the RSC comprises more than two dozen ESF faculty members. Leopold ticks off the strengths of his colleagues across campus: restoration ecology, conservation science, traditional ecological knowledge, food systems, environmental science, engineering, landscape design and community engagement. He said they are on ”a transformational mission” together.

The RSC grew out of the ESF Discovery Challenge, which engaged the campus in setting a new course for the College’s future. The center is expected to have a sweeping impact across the eastern United States through Dr. William Powell’s work on restoring the American chestnut and American elm trees. In the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador, ESF’s work focuses on restoring the famed giant tortoises and the ecosystems they inhabit. 

Closer to home, the RSC touches the shore of Skaneateles Lake, where homeowners are implementing a “Lawn to Meadow” program developed by Samuel A. Quinn ’07, a research assistant with the RSC’s Conservation on Private Lands Initiative. (LINK) 

And within reach of campus, the Syracuse Urban Food Forest Project benefits from ESF’s ties to Syracuse University as it examines ways
to create novel ecosystems by maximizing high quality food production on urban lands, many derelict. Leopold said the project illustrates the RSC’s unique approach: “Traditional ecological restoration often has a goal of restoring conditions to some ‘pristine’ reference condition.

But we’re trying to develop plant groupings that maximize ecological function and are adapted to today’s environment. We have traditional ecologists working with landscape architects and food scientists, and we’re taking into account the concerns of local communities and business economics.”

In the last year, RSC scientists have garnered more than $4 million in funding from state and federal agencies, philanthropic foundations and private donors to support restoration-related research at ESF. As the 2020-21 fiscal year drew to a close, the RSC worked with the ESF College Foundation, Inc., to secure support from the Central New York Community Foundation, the Emerson Foundation, and the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation. Extramural funding and philanthropy are vital to the center’s success, said Brandy Neveldine ’09, who joined ESF last year as a development officer. 

 

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