19th Annual Meeting
June 3-6, 2019
Renaissance Hotel, Asheville, NC
Enabling Future Generations to Solve Our Planet's Grand Challenges
Hosted by North Carolina State University's Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department & Cooperative Extension
We are excited to host the 19th annual American Ecological Engineering Society Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Located in North Carolina’s scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville is known for its vibrant art scene, adventurous spirit, and commitment to environmental sustainability. This year’s meeting theme is “Enabling Future Generations to Solve Our Planet’s Grand Challenges”. With this meeting, we hope to better contextualize the realm of Ecological Engineering while looking for the next generation to use these emerging practices to solve the world’s grand challenges. The interplay between students, industry professionals, and academia will be a key element of the meeting. We are encouraging industry professionals to attend the meeting as sponsors and mentors and provide insights to entering the field.
Meeting Agenda
Field Trips
Ochlawaha Bog
Southern Appalachian Bogs are a rare ecosystem, with only a few hundred acres thought to be remaining. The Ochlawaha Bog was restored in 2011 from farmland just south of Asheville with the goal of re-creating seepage hydrology and habitat for the endangered bunched arrowhead plant, Sagittaria fasciculata) thought to only exist in two counties in the entire world. It is also the new home for over 30 species of game birds. Join us for a tour of this 30 acre restoration and learn about what it takes to coordinate, design and implement this type of ecological restoration project. (Pictures sourced from https://www.fws.gov/southeast/tags/ochlawaha-bog/)
North Carolina Arboretum
The North Carolina Arboretum is a 434-arce public garden that offers some of the most beautiful, botanically-diverse plants in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The North Carolina Arboretum is a 434-arce public garden that offers some of the most beautiful, botanically-diverse plants in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Ten years later: How did stormwater control practices and a short, restored reach of stream hold up? Join us for a tour of SCM practices and the stream reach at The North Carolina Arboretum. Lessons learned during the design process and subsequent adaptive management will be at the heart or the discussions. Participants will have time to tour the arboretum. (Pictures sourced from The NC Arboretum and Clean Water Management Fund)
UNC Asheville Sustainability Initiatives
Tour the UNC-Asheville Campus to learn about initiatives that create a vibrant sustainability culture that welcomes student, staff, faculty and community involvement. From our classes to our student organizations, our campus facilities to our beautiful edible gardens, UNC Asheville offers a wide range of opportunities for exploring and enhancing our relationship with the planet and its living systems. Sustainability is also a core value of UNC Asheville’s strategic plan, which solidifies our commitment to educating students about all dimensions of sustainability by integrating environmental literacy throughout the curriculum and modeling sustainable campus practices. Sustainability initiatives that are likely to be featured on this tour are biorention ponds, stormwater and pocket wetlands, rain gardens, vegetated roofs, botanical and edible gardens, and bee hotels. To learn more about UNC Asheville’s Sustainability Efforts, visit their website: https://sustainability.unca.edu/. (Pictures sourced from UNC Asheville)
New Belgium Stream Restoration, Stormwater, and Low Impact Development
This tour will include a visit to the New Belgium Brewery where participants will be able to learn about the stream restoration enhancements, low impact development, stormwater management and native plant community establishment efforts at and around the Brewery. To learn more about the Brewery’s sustainability efforts, visit their website: https://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability/ (Pictures sourced from Barbara Doll and riverlink.org)
19th Annual Meeting Sponsors
