Berea Ecological Restoration: Conclusions to our first trip, By Julius Neill

Monday, May 20, 2013

Conclusions to our first trip, By Julius Neill

May 20^th,2013

Hello everyone,

We prayed last evening in hopes of a rain free day and rejoiced when the skies remained clear. Today’s main task was data collection at Kentucky University Reforestation Research Geohydrology Site. Dr. Sarah Hall led our group containing summer interns Yoshua Reece and Reena Martin, classmates Emily-Grace Sarver-Wolf‎, Jordan Engel‎, Karen Reynolds, Rebecca Shaw, myself (Julius Neill), and our resident Berea College Sustainability Director and summer 1 professor of the course Introduction to Ecological Restoration Richard Olson, in data collection. Splitting into pairs we each took one

The group at a research plot of unweathered gray sandstone.

square meter ground vegetation samples for plant diversity and soil microbial analysis. The site has been created with the help of U.K. and A.R.R.I. (Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative) to measure soil infiltration of rough, uneven terrain and the resulting effects of weathered and unweathered spoils on plant growth and successional regrowth of forests. We consequently discovered that brown spoils, which are partially weathered mine spoils that are found between the top layer of organic and mineral soil and the bottom layer of unweathered parent rock, appear to be better suited for reforestation after coal extraction. The implication of this research is quite beneficial for everyone. Energy and technology help progress humankind to higher standards but we constantly must work to find solutions to also maintaining our parent material, Earth. If I have learned anything it is that we are what we eat. Forests are an essential ecological resource. They provide us with wildlife to eat and admire, air quality that cannot be surpassed, and micro climates that protect water and nutrient cycles.Additionally, local resources like wood, coal, and water provide us necessities like economic drivers and life.

Dr. Sarah Hall gives instructions to the class.

Today we got to experience a lot of forests as we returned to Berea from Perry, Leslie, Letcher, and Pike Counties. Our first journey finished as a success; our van proved to be resilient, our goals were all accomplished, and we learned valuable firsthand experiences with Appalachia’s Honey corridor project creator Tammy Horn, James River Coal Companies’ President Brian Patton over a meet and greet lunch, and lastly efforts from the past two days excursions with Sarah Hall to collect data for her UK and ARRI affiliates research. I also learned about myself along the way. I enjoyed hiking in Robinson forest, getting to grill out for everyone, and being reborn as I witnessed a sunrise on top of a scenic outpost. I also learned a ton from our new friends that are too numerous to mention here. And I have come to a lot of valuable conclusions on what I now consider to be appropriate action in becoming an agent for my own goals. I cannot believe to have been so fortunate! The first week of our course has been great. I feel that our “EcRest,” (sorry everyone I can't resist a joke) class really bonded over the last five day trip and formed a strong bond of solidarity in the efforts to learn the basics and essentials of reforestation. I am excited for a break tomorrow, but also in the momentum our group will carry into our next excursion to Scott County for a new lesson in wetland restoration.

To finish I’d like to thank Dr. Richard Olson for providing us with the background information, travel arrangements, and offering the course. Also I’d like to thank: Dr. Sarah Hall for providing lunches and experience with reforestation research data collection opportunities, as well as Tammy Horn for her efforts; and the several coal companies that gave their time to give us extremely valuable personal interactions that were friendly, informative, and generous, also UK and the overseers of the Robinson forest cabins, and lastly to University of Pikeville for allowing us to stay in one of their dormitories (which was very clean). I appreciate you reading and hope you find our blog to be engaging and informative. Please leave us a comment and let us know what you’re thinking,

Regards,

Julius Neill

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About Us

Dr. Richard Olson

The author Derrick Jensen asks “What will be your legacy? Will your legacy be a world that is healthier, stronger, more resilient, more diverse, than it was before you were born? If you would like for this to be your legacy… how will you achieve that? What will you do to leave behind healthy soil, healthy forests, healthy oceans?” This course in Ecological Restoration is a reflection of my answer to the question – yes, I would like a legacy as a net asset to the real, physical planet – and part of my path to achieving that legacy. Through this course I can learn and assist others to learn the basic concepts and skills of restoration, while we make a small but tangible contribution to the restoration of several pieces of the world. Longer term, the experience of this course will support an effort by Dr. Sarah Hall and me to add permanent courses in ecological restoration to the Berea curriculum, giving Berea students the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills they need to leave a legacy of restoration, not degradation.

Julius Neill

My name is Julius Neill and I have been waiting to take a class about ecological restoration since High School. A fairy tale normally concludes with a happy ending unlike most occasions in life. I believe that I must be living a fairy tale because my undergraduate education is concluding with a capstone of my most sincere interest, Introduction to Ecological Restoration. Snow White’s happy ending leaves no legacy. Ecological restoration is a chance to truly leave a signature. That is a fairy tale to me. I hope to gain a better vision of this noble truth to more aptly persuade others to this point. My own experiences have led me to believing in a personal relationship with nature and I hope to encourage others to do the same. I used to fish quite frequently and gained an immense desire to rehabilitate streams. I know that there are others out there that simply need an opportunity to come to a similar conclusion. My development and education of the political, societal, and environmental aspects of restoration is a stepping stone for those achievements. I do hope you join us, the citizens of Earth, to take a stance and take part. Thank you.

Emily Grace Sarver-Wolf

My name is Emily Grace Indigo Sarver-Wolf and I am from Poplar Hill, Virginia. I am a senior Agriculture and Natural Resources Major with minors in Sustainability, Appalachian Studies, and Dance at Berea College. I have some experience with restoration efforts in my home area, and I am eager to learn more and to learn how restoration efforts are implemented throughout the country. Restoration work is vital to me, as I attempt to make up for the resources that I have used through the course of my life, and may be an area I pursue for future employment. I am looking forward to interacting with the different people and organizations we will meet on this trip!

Rebecca Shaw

Ecological restoration has always been at the heart of my plans for a career. I am a rising senior, studio art major, and hope to get my masters degree in landscape architecture. This course is exciting to me because it will allow me to start learning hands on approaches to solving the problems that industrial civilization has caused, and it will give me some much needed field experience before I follow my dream earning my masters degree in Regenerating Intermediate Landscapes.

Karen Reynolds

Ecological restoration interested me because I see it as a practical application of biology. I will graduate next May with a degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology, which means that most of my classes up to this point have been primarily theoretical. I wanted to do something completely different with my time in order to gain a better understanding of the natural world and what I can do to reverse some of the damage that people have caused. Although I may not stay there, I'm excited to get out of the lab and into the real world!

Jordan Engel

I'm a Berea senior from Rochester, New York, about to graduate with a degree in Sustainable Community Development. As the name suggests, most of the communities in this culture are not sustainable and are destroying both their local ecosystems and the broader biosphere. My goal is to leave a positive legacy in the form of healthier ecosystems and happier people. I believe that the two are inseparable - natural lifestyles nurture the planet just as planetary health nurtures human well-being. Ecological restoration is a good place to start.