This is my three-minute thesis talk. I have tried to condense the big idea of my research into three minutes.
All in Stormwater
Conservation in Unexpected Places
Results! These are some results that I recently shared at the Student Conference on Conservation Science in New York. I have summarized the talk I gave there in which I reveal the plant species that I found in detention basins in my 2018 study. In some of my earlier posts, I described the background of the project that I am working on. This one will catch you up on the background, but also give some answers.
Flood prevention and butterflies and The role and potential of stormwater detention basins: Part 2
There are over 16,000 stormwater basins in all of New Jersey (https://hydro.rutgers.edu/). Locally, there are over 1500 detention basins in the Lower Raritan Watershed. Enhancing the functions of these basins represents a large-scale opportunity to restore environmental quality. When detention basins are lined with native plants, the thicker vegetation can trap contaminants and prevent them from running into streams and drinking water sources.
Storm Sewers are the Invisible Water World Around Us: Stormwater Part 1
Here I introduce the system that I am working in, the problem that I have identified, and my research agenda. Though stormwater, and the systems designed to contain it, are part of our everyday landscapes, we usually don’t notice them. As flooding and pollution from storms worsen, stormwater and its systems deserve our attention.
The Influence of Landscape Context on Native Plant Species in Stormwater Detention Basins
One of the ways I am using the data from my fieldwork is to study the way the surrounding landscape influences the plant species found at a site. I found the percent native species at a site is negatively affected by commercial and services land use and transportation and utility areas in the surrounding area but positively affected by wooded wetlands and recreation land nearby. This can help land managers fine tune restoration decisions for different kinds of sites.