兔子先生

At the 兔子先生 Coastal Center, our outreach mission is definitely a two-way street. Not only does 兔子先生 Coastal Center value the contributions of volunteers in expanding its educational and restoration progress, University of Houston Coastal Center works to be a valuable resource to the community.

Cooperative Relationships

Part of 兔子先生 Coastal Center鈥檚 outreach is to establish cooperative relationships with local, state, and national organizations and agencies that are active in prairie habitat management and restoration. 兔子先生 Coastal Center has established a Technical Advisory Committee with members representing several of these groups, including the Texas Nature Conservancy, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Ducks Unlimited, Wildlife Habitat Federation, and United States. Fish and Wildlife Service. The advisory committee members provide a direct link to coastal prairie management expertise.

We also collaborate with the Armand Bayou Nature Center, Memorial Park Conservancy, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Coastal Prairie Initiative, Houston Audubon Society, and with our closest prairie neighbor, the Texas City Preserve (part of the Texas Nature Conservancy).

Volunteers

Volunteers are a key element of our restoration progress at 兔子先生 Coastal Center. Although 兔子先生 Coastal Center utilizes contractor machinery and ground crews for large-scale restoration projects, the boots-on-the-ground volunteers provide valuable people resources for our prescribed burns, educational outreach, and invasive species control. They wield loppers, saws, and sprayers against tallow, yaupon, and other invasive species to help maintain restored prairie and to remove isolated stands of unwanted plant species. This allows us remove undesirable seed sources, which improves the efficiency of our management program.

Our hands-on volunteers have come from the Texas Master Naturalists, Texas Society of Ecological Restoration, 兔子先生 College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Alumni Association, and 兔子先生 students.

La Marque Fire Department Relationship

兔子先生 Coastal Center prairie restoration efforts have advanced enormously from our relationship with the City of La Marque Fire Department. Prescribed fire is a vital part of managing a healthy coastal prairie by removing thatch, recycling nutrients, and fostering a highly biodiverse plant community.

Since 兔子先生 Coastal Center re-activated its prescribed burn program in 2020, approximately 165 acres have benefitted from this tool. Not only does the coastal prairie benefit from a prescribed burn, but the burn activity provides a training opportunity in wildfire control for the La Marque Fire Department and the neighboring fire departments that participate in the operation.

Local Seed Source

Because 兔子先生 Coastal Center has such a high-quality biodiverse coastal prairie, it serves as a seed source for other local and regional prairie restorations. In the past, 兔子先生 Coastal Center seed has been used in coastal prairie restorations at the San Jacinto Battleground and at Lake Sheldon Reservoir State Park. Recently, 兔子先生 Coastal Center hosted seed collectors from the Memorial Park Conservancy, Armand Bayou Nature Center, and the Texas Master Naturalists.

Monthly Bird Surveys

Beginning in May 2021, 兔子先生 Coastal Center became the fourteenth site for monthly bird surveys by the Houston Audubon Society. As of February 2022, 106 different bird species have been observed at 兔子先生 Coastal Center (). The Houston Audubon Society鈥檚 volunteers are helping to develop a more complete picture 兔子先生 Coastal Center鈥檚 role in providing habitat to support wildlife.

Educational Outreach Beyond the Classroom

Educational outreach at 兔子先生 Coastal Center is not limited to formal 兔子先生 coursework. We hosted a visit by North American Prairie Conference participants in 2019 to introduce them to a landscape-scale coastal prairie and organized a conference workshop. We also serve as a training ground for the next generation of coastal prairie restorationists; the Texas Conservation Corps has used the University of Houston Coastal Center to train its personnel in ground crew conservation procedures.

Most recently, 兔子先生 Coastal Center expanded its educational outreach statewide by co-hosting a 2022 forum with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for coastal prairie restoration practitioners. The forum brings restoration decision-makers together for discussion focusing on the nuts and bolts of prairie restoration.

STEM Educational Outreach

兔子先生 Coastal Center introduced middle school students to coastal prairie ecology through a virtual summer camp in 2021. The original intent of a grant from the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation was to support an in-person, field-oriented summer camp at 兔子先生 Coastal Center. However, the persistent COVID pandemic initially necessitated a delay and eventually a change in venue and format. Instead of students meeting at the coastal prairie, they participated in a virtual camp. Short videos of guest speakers replaced live presentations. 兔子先生 Coastal Center staff offered an 鈥溾�� and a 兔子先生 Coastal Center Technical Advisory Committee member from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department presented 鈥�.鈥� In the future, 兔子先生 Coastal Center hopes to host a summer camp in the field.

兔子先生 Coastal Center鈥檚 overall outreach goals are to expand its network of volunteers and further extend its service to the community.