Boston Flora

Tag: Steven Handel

  • Wednesday, January 13, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – The Challenges of Restoring Urban Native Habitat, Online

    Patches of native habitat in urban and other degraded areas provide important ecological services. A design team developed and tested a series of planting that attempted to restore ecological connections between fragmented and degraded remnant habitats in large, urban areas. Old, urban landfills were planted with woodland patches of various sizes to determine how quickly mutualisms, including seed dispersal and pollination, occurred. Focusing on Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York and Orange County Great Park in California, where complex habitat was integrated with civic needs, Dr. Handel, in this January 13 Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar, will explore how these types of ecological solutions can be applied to many urban designs. The event begins at 12 noon and is free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/the-challenges-of-restoring-urban-native-habitat/

    Dr. Steven Handel is a Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University where he studies the potential to restore native plant communities, adding sustainable ecological services, biodiversity, and amenities to the landscape. His research explores pollination, seed dispersal, population growth, and problems of urban and heavily degraded lands.
    Previously, Dr. Handel was Director of the Marsh Botanic Garden at Yale University, a Visiting Professor at Stockholm University, and Research Scholar at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He is the Editor of the professional journal Ecological Restoration and an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. He was elected an Honorary Member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and also received the Society for Ecological Restoration’s highest research honor, the Theodore M. Sperry Award. Dr. Handel received his BA from Columbia College in Biology and MS and PhD degrees from Cornell University in the Field of Ecology and Evolution.

  • Wednesday, February 6, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Challenge and Promise of Restoring Urban Landscapes

    Human activity has degraded much of our urban landscape, making the rebuilding of native habitat on these lands an important priority. But potential restoration sites are often small and heavily altered, and questions about best strategies abound. Can these landscapes be designed and managed to support native biodiversity? How can we rebuild functioning ecosystems on them? Which target sites are practical ones, especially in this time of rapid climate change? Noted ecologist Steven Handel has been researching these challenges for most of his career and his work illustrates the surprising and significant transformations that are possible. On Wednesday, February 6 at 7 pm at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway in Cambridge, He will discuss projects that he has worked on, including Freshkills Park (a former landfill on Staten Island), Brooklyn Bridge Park, and other coastal sites. Join us to learn more about urban ecological restoration in a world that desperately needs it.

    Dr. Steven Handel, Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University, is currently a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and editor of the journal, Ecological Restoration. This free program is sponsored by Grow Native Massachusetts.

    Image result for Ecological Restoration journal

  • Tuesday, February 27, 6:00 pm – As the Seas Rise, Can We Restore Our Coastal Habitats?

    Steven Handel, Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Rutgers University Visiting Professor in Landscape Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, will present a free lecture at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, on February 27 at 6 pm.

    As sea levels rise, the potential loss of coastal habitats is a threat across the globe. This is of particular concern in the eastern United States, where coastlines are largely developed and offer few open spaces for habitats to move inland if present natural lands are lost. Considering the current conditions of coastlines, as well as future development scenarios, Steven Handel will discuss strategies to help maintain our coastal character and the ecological services of coastal habitats that are critical to the social, cultural, and environmental well-being of our region. Free and open to the public. Free event parking at 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    Presented by Harvard Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. This event will be livestreamed on the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Facebook page. Check https://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/seas-rise-can-we-restore-our-coastal-habitats the day of the program for a direct video link. A recording of this program will be available on our YouTube channel approximately three weeks after the lecture.

    http://envirostewards.rutgers.edu/Colloquium%202014%20Environmental%20Stewards%20Duke%20F.%20&%20Rutgers%20033-002.jpg

  • Tuesday, March 7, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Planting in the Public Realm: Projects and Projections

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design will conduct a panel discussion on Tuesday, March 7 from 6:30 – 8:30 in Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium, Quincy Street in Cambridge.

    Plant life, long regarded in cities as an amenity, has throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries also become an accepted necessity integral to the urban fabric. Yet, there are multiple challenges facing plants and planting design in urban areas. Pollution, climate change, increasingly restricted space, and insufficient or nonexistent public budgets for plants are only some of the factors that make it difficult for vegetation in our cities to survive. Yet numerous new public urban parks have been created, tree planting programs persist, new plant cultivars are developed, spontaneous plant growth is studied, and new planting design paradigms are proposed.

    In a series of short presentations and a moderated discussion, landscape architects, planting designers, and ecologists will assess the current state of the art in planting the public realm. The event seeks to draw out ideas for how plants can be used in the future design of urbanizing areas to create healthy, sustainable, inclusive, and appealing environments. What is the importance of planting the public realm today, and what are its biggest challenges? What are the roles of landscape architects, designers, ecologists, and plant scientists in accommodating plant life in cities and in areas that are becoming urbanized, and are we beyond botanical xenophobia? Moderated by author Sonja Dümpelmann, associate professor of landscape architecture, with Steven Handel, visiting professor in landscape architecture; Noel Kingsbury, writer and garden designer; Norbert Kühn, TU Berlin; Doug Reed MLA ’81, lecturer in landscape; and Matthew Urbanski MLA ’89, associate professor in practice of landscape architecture.

    Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu. The event is free and open to the public.