An on-campus, collaborative restoration of landfill and degraded suburban ecosystems

Increasing urbanization and the expansion of suburban areas are fragmenting native habitats. Habitat fragments provide fewer ecosystem services than large, intact ecosystems. However, restoration efforts can improve ecosystem services within the fragmented landscape and for people within the suburban areas nearby. In this paper, a landfill and two degraded ecosystems on Roanoke College’s campus in Salem, VA, serve as a case study for an innovative and collaborative on-campus ecosystem restoration in a suburban landscape. Known as the Roanoke College Environment Center, this project has provided opportunities for undergraduate students, college faculty, and external community groups to participate in several experimental and educational restoration efforts. Presently, the Environment Center is being used as a field station for further restoration, research, and monitoring. It also continues to be used as a non-traditional setting for community-oriented environmental literacy events as well as an educational space for Roanoke College classes. While ecosystem restoration projects have been executed at other higher-education institutions, the Roanoke College Environment Center is novel in its restoration of a landfill site, as well as its mission to both restore a degraded suburban ecosystem while simultaneously providing benefits to the students, to the college, and to the greater community. We hope the Environment Center provides both a framework and inspiration for other colleges and universities to undertake similar ecosystem restoration projects on their own campuses.