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IFCAE Project: Urban Foraging |
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| Timeframe: | 2008-2012 |
| Project Lead: | Melissa Poe, Rebecca McLain |
| Research Assistant: | Lauren Urgenson, Joyce LeCompte-Mastenbrook |
| 2011 Summer Intern | Sylvia Gozdek |
| Administration: | Institute
for Culture and Ecology |
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Core Planning Team: |
Susan Charnley, U.S. Forest Service, PNW Research Station Marla Emery, U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station Patrick Hurley, Ursinus College Rebecca McLain, Institute for Culture and Ecology Melissa Poe, Institute for Culture and Ecology |
| Project Overview |
Urban ecosystems provide a number of ecological and socio-economic
benefits. The
Seattle Urban NTFP Foraging & Gathering Study
expands knowledge of how people interact with urban nature through
their foraging practices and the implications of those interactions
for social and ecological resiliency of cities.
Specifically, this study will examine: the
diversity of plants & fungi gathered in Seattle, the characteristics
of people who gather or forage; the social, economic and cultural
importance of gathering; the attributes of places where gathering
occurs; the ways gatherers steward plants, fungi and places, or engage
with urban forest planning and restoration activities. We
use qualitative social science methods coupled with GIS to collect and
analyze data on urban gathering of plants and fungi
(including NTFPs such as edible mushrooms, tree bark, leaves, mosses,
berries, and tree fruit).
This project has the potential to link planners, land managers and
gatherers in ways that builds new bridges for urban green space
management that not only supports a diversity of environmental
stewardship activities, but also supports broader initiatives of
environmental justice. |
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Additional Collaborators: |
Current: |
| Funding: | USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station, Northern Research Station, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. |
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