Biodiversity

This studio integrated site design with biodiversity research and management practices. Partnerships were formed with both public and private sites and entities in central New York state. Students worked closely with local stake holders to develop research and design proposals. Project outcomes required increasing ecological health while improving human access to these sites.

I co-taught this studio with my colleague Sam Quinn, Director of Conservation on Private Lands Initiative, at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF).

Corridors of Biodiversity:

A Guide for Enhancing Utility Rights-of-Way Habitat [for Central New York state]

Emma Farrell, Juliet Graves & Siela Zembsch

Manlius Fen:

Enhancing Ecosystem Access

Jenna Greco, Layna Pratt & Jake Totten

The team shares:

This document was created to tell the story of the destruction of the large system of wetlands that once existed in Onondaga County, New York, and to illustrate the importance of protecting the small fragments of these wetlands that still exist today, through the exploration and design of Manlius Fen, a small, wetland property in East Syracuse, New York.

This document also serves as a proposal for future site development of Manlius Fen, but also as a case study for sites like this anywhere in the world. The design narrative highlights the ecological significance of small, sometimes unassuming, landscapes, illustrating how we can tell the story of what has been lost, while encouraging stewardship to conserve what remains.

The authors hope that the vision and design for this site will serve as an example of how to approach similar ecologically sensitive sites and ultimately aid in the protection and conservation significant sites at a wider scale.

Schiller Park

Vic Borrero-Garcia, Julia Smith, Joselfy Henriquez & Joe Perez