Water Sustainability Lecture: UCSB Wetlands

Bringing Back Our Wetland; Restoring a Community Treasurer with the Help of Students and Residents | 2023 Darcy Aston Memorial Lecture on Water Sustainability

This year’s Darcy Aston Memorial Water Lecture will feature Lisa Stratton, Director of Ecosystem Management at the Cheadle Center for Biological Diversity and Ecological Restoration (Cheadle Center) at UCSB. Come hear the story of how this exciting restoration project came to be and how being on the UCSB Campus has multiplied the value of this project by engaging students and the community in its restoration. This restored wetland, referred to as the North Campus Open Space Project (NCOS), is a dynamic community asset. It serves as a real-world demonstration of how nature-based solutions can help us adapt to climate change by restoring drought-adaptive native habitats and rare plant communities, attenuating floods, improving water quality, and addressing sea level rise. This project also serves as a living classroom and research laboratory for generations of UCSB students, advancing our understanding of our environment and the role we can play in preserving and enhancing our ecosystems.

Before the lecture, you’re encouraged to watch an inspiring film about how the former Ocean Meadows Golf Course was transformed and restored back to its original natural condition. The film Bringing Back our Wetland, by Mike Love and featured in the SB International Film Festival in February, is available for free streaming before the lecture here. 

Time: Wednesday, May 3rd, 5:00 pm –6:30 pm

Hybrid attendance options:
Zoom & Interactive Learning Pavilion Auditorium 1302 (next to UCSB library)
Individuals interested in attending via Zoom, please register for Zoom link