Natural Resources Design

The Director of our Civil Engineering Division, Christopher Sonne, lectured this weekend at the Virginia Society of Landscape Designers Winter Seminar Program in Norfolk, VA at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.

His presentation "Calculating Stormwater Inflow" covered determination of stormwater drainage areas, runoff calculations, and sizing for bioretention basins and permeable pavements. Awesome Job, Chris!

In this video, National Geographic documents how reforestation has effects of an astonishing magnitude.

In urban or suburban settings, we can't regain the forests lost to development, but we can restore some of the benefits lost by working towards creating "urban forests".

This island was on the brink of disaster. Then, they planted thousands of trees. Situated in the Zanzibar Archipelago, the island of Kokota has become an example of people adapting to climate change.

A thought-provoking perspective from gardening columnist Adrian Higgins. In this Washington Post article he considers the benefits, and pitfalls, of gardening with apps.

A noteworthy observation made in the article: “a demanding client had vetoed [a landscape architect’s] proposed tree species for another after looking up the substitute online. Twenty minutes of surfing had trumped decades of expertise and practice. Information is confused with knowledge.”

Perspective | An app can help introduce newbies to the garden. But the real rewards are in the dirt. There has never been a more urgent time to introduce younger folks to the power of the plant kingdom, given the issues of climate change.