Integration of restoration education into undergraduate course work and community group activities through the Lost Creek restoration project

One of the best ways to learn is through experience. This concept was one of the primary objectives of the Lost Creek restoration project at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT): to educate the campus and community on both the importance of healthy streams and the process of stream restoration. A restoration design for a section of Lost Creek running through the RHIT campus was developed as part of a graduate student investigative design project. The objectives of the restoration were to reconnect the creek with its floodplain, reduce bank erosion, and restore valuable stream habitat. In addition to the restoration design, the project consisted of several unique educational components that were designed to serve two primary purposes: demonstration and research/monitoring. This paper discusses the educational components used and the integration of stream restoration into undergraduate coursework. The research and monitoring components of the Lost Creek project were developed in conjunction with the current course offerings at RHIT. Monitoring is a vital component of any restoration project. For the Lost Creek project, it was possible to incorporate the monitoring plan into several of the institute's courses (e.g., AB320 - Ecology, CE598 - Stream Restoration, CE461 - Environmental Engineering Laboratory). Undergraduate laboratory assignments were developed to address each monitoring procedure. These laboratory assignments were then integrated into each participating course in order to evaluate restoration project status, identify problems and recommend maintenance activities, and provide recommendations to improve future projects. Overall, the results of this project provide Rose-Hulman with a unique educational opportunity to integrate on-campus sites as living laboratories where students can literally get their feet wet.