FSML Planning Grant: Developing a Strategic Plan and Infrastructure Needs Assessment for Washington State University's Meyer's Point Environmental Field Station

Washington State University, Pullman WA

Investigators

Abstract

The Meyer's Point Environmental Field Station, including 95 acres of undeveloped land and 2,100 feet of Puget Sound shoreline, was bequeathed to Washington State University (WSU) in 1990. This bequest stated that Meyer's Point should be used to promote environmental education, research, and the arts. Meyer's Point currently boasts substantial natural resources including extensive terrestrial, wetland and aquatic habitats. For the past 26 years, in keeping with this bequest, WSU and its many partners have utilized Meyer's Point for a range of environmental research, education, and outreach activities, including studies of shoreline native plants, marine invertebrates, butterflies, salt marshes and birds, water quality and ecosystem restoration. But these prior research, education and outreach efforts have generally been 'stand-alone' projects and not well coordinated. There is an opportunity to focus WSU's (and other institutions') research efforts in some high-profile and high-impact areas. WSU, the state's land-grant research university, has growing expertise in three new thematic areas relevant to the urban/rural interface that could guide the build-out of Meyer's Point: 1) Water Science; 2) The Interface between Agriculture and Ecosystems; and 3) "People and Place" in the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences. More broadly, WSU will adopt a consistent, intentional and interactive process at Meyer's Point for: 1) educating and training undergraduate and graduate students (e.g. hosting the "New REU Site: Landscape Ecology and Ecosystem Dynamics: Integrating Terrestrial and Aquatic Perspectives" project), 2) engaging with K-12 teachers and students (e.g., the Olympia High School Earth Corps" has for many years cleared invasive plants and re-planted native late-succession tree species over several acres of land at Meyer's Point), and 3) reaching out to engage and inform the public (e.g., Meyer's Point is currently home to a community-based, non-profit oyster farm collaborative, that educates and provides hands-on experience developing, managing and distributing fresh, native oysters harvested from the site). The overall goal is to build Meyer's Point into a leading environmental research, education and outreach center for the Puget Sound Area, and by extension, the state of Washington and the nation, that is focused on environmental issues at the urban/rural interface. The three primary objectives for this planning grant are to: i) Learn about the needs, capabilities and aspirations of stakeholders, potential partnering institutions, and regional field stations, via a series of site visits; ii) Work with stakeholder and partner institutions to identify goals and outcomes for the next 5-years of growth at Meyer's Point, via a professionally facilitated workshop; and iii) Produce a detailed 5-year strategic plan that can guide WSU and its partners in facilities enhancement and fundraising for Meyer's Point.