This project supports the development of a five-year strategic plan for a biological field station at a Tulane University facility in New Orleans, LA. The ByWater Biological Field Station lies in an eight-acre forest tract in the City of New Orleans, contiguous with a larger 5,000-acre bottomland hardwood forest on the city's southern margin. The site offers wide range of opportunities for experimental and applied research, education, public engagement and science communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The scientific importance of the site lies in its experimental value for the development and refining of urban ecosystem management techniques, and additionally in the site's proximity to and embeddedness in important regional deltaic processes and related policy development. Further, the ByWater Field Station is already utilized as an environmental education and arts integration facility for the region. Strategic planning will be undertaken to compliment these uses with a rigorous scientific program that aims to support partnerships with diverse stakeholders in the region. The ByWater Biological Field Station represents a key opportunity for scientific practice and community engagement in Louisiana and beyond.
This planning project for the ByWater Biological Field Station will produce a five-year strategic plan for a new peri-urban field station situated at the nexus of vulnerable ecosystems and communities. Research at the Station has the potential to significantly contribute to use-inspired urban, forest, coastal, and riverine science ongoing in the region and growing nationally. The human and biophysical factors shaping forest dynamics in and around the Station represent a locally important and globally relevant setting for scientific research and land management policy development. Strategic planning for the field station will enable an impactful, novel research program; increased education and training opportunities; prospects for groundbreaking cross-disciplinary and cross-sector collaborations; new possibilities for improving science literacy and engagement; and enhanced research and education infrastructure in Louisiana and on the Gulf Coast. The region is in need of improved education and STEM training and learning outcomes, and the planning process will fulfill a major need in an underserved region of the U.S. More details on the existing facility can be found at www.astudiointhewoods.org/index.html.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
