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The Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources Department of Forestry is pleased to announce the release of a new website "Stormwater Management: Using Trees and Structural Soils to Improve Water Quality" (www.cnr.vt.edu/urbanforestry/stormwater). The site offers a suite of technology transfer resources for implementing the stormwater management practices developed as a part of our project, Development of a Green Infrastructure Technology that Links Trees and Engineered Soil to Minimize Runoff from Pavement, initially funded by the USDA-Forest Service under advisement from the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council in 2004. The project was led by faculty in the Forestry and Horticulture Departments at Virginia Tech and included collaborators from Cornell University and the University of California at Davis. Please visit the site at www.cnr.vt.edu/urbanforestry/stormwater. The site includes:
- A 55-page downloadable how-to manual designed for stormwater engineers, urban foresters, public works departments, low-impact development practitioners, grass-roots organizations, and others: Managing Stormwater for Urban Sustainability using Trees and Structural Soils, 2008. Eds. S. D. Day and S. B. Dickinson. Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA.
- A 10-minute visual presentation, with accompanying notes for presenters to introduce the concept of trees as stormwater management tools and the structural soil system to developers, city councils, tree boards, landscape architects, stormwater managers, and other practitioners.
- Highlights from the construction of each of four demonstration sites around the country.
- Technical resources related to this project, including citations of published research resulting from these studies.
- Links to a full set of stormwater management and urban forestry resources created as a part of this project by each of three participating universities. Additional resources from the wider urban forestry community are also highlighted.
- Opportunities for feedback and information sharing.
Project Participants
| Project Director: |
Susan Downing Day, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Departments of Forestry and Horticulture, Virginia Tech |
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| Virginia Tech Co-Leader: |
J. Roger Harris, Ph.D., Professor and Head, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Tech |
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| Cornell Leader: |
Nina L. Bassuk, Ph.D., Professor and Program Leader Urban Horticulture Institute, Cornell University |
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| U.C. Davis Leader: |
Qingfu Xiao, Ph.D., Research Water Scientist, Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California at Davis |
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| Graduate Students: |
Julia Bartens, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Tech (current position: Ph.D. student, Department of Forestry, Virginia Tech) |
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Ted Haffner, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University (current position: Associate Landscape Architect, Terry Guen Design Associates, Chicago, IL) |
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| Asst. Project Manager: |
Sarah B. Dickinson, Research Associate, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Tech |
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| Research Collaborators: |
Joseph E. Dove, Ph.D., P.E., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech |
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Peter Trowbridge, MLA, Professor and Chair, Landscape Architecture, Cornell University |
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Theresa Wynn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech |
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| Cooperators: |
Laurence Costello, Ph.D., Extension Specialist, University of California at Davis |
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Jason Grabosky, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University |
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E. Gregory McPherson, Ph.D., Director, Center for Urban Forestry Research PSW, USDA Forest Service |
Acknowledgements This work is the culmination of a four-year project that has relied on the hard work and insight of many people. We appreciate the work of John O. James, Stephanie Worthington, Mona Dollins, Liz Crawley, Velva Groover, Flix Rubn Arguedas, Andy Hillman, and many others in bringing this project to completion. We would like to express our thanks to the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council for the opportunity to pursue this research. We hope you will have an opportunity to examine the materials on the web site and disseminate this information widely within your state and nationally. If you would prefer a CD with these resources, please contact me at sdd@vt.edu and we will be happy to burn a CD and send it to you. I hope you will find this material a helpful tool in increasing canopy cover in cities and municipalities around the country. Thank you.
Susan D. Day, Assistant Professor of Urban Forestry
Department of Forestry and Department of Horticulture
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
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