Sent on behalf of the Boulder County Nature Association:
We invite you and interested people in your departments to join us for Boulder County Nature Association’s 2025 Ecosymposium! This year’s symposium, “Restorative Relationships: Sustainable Responses to Ecological Challenges,” will explore the theme of restoration of land in a time of change.
Event Details
📅 Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025
⏰ Time: 9 AM – 3 PM
📍 Location: Sustainability, Energy and Environment Community (SEEC), University of Colorado Boulder, 4001 Discovery Drive, Boulder
🔗 Pre-registration requested (tickets are $7): Eventbrite registration page
ℹ️ More information: https://bcna.org/2025ecosymposium
The Theme:
Our local public lands face a variety of environmental threats, many exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change. While conservation approaches seek to prevent this degradation in the first place, restoration involves attempts to “repair or otherwise enhance the structure and function of an ecosystem that has been impacted by disturbance or environmental change” (Suding, 2011). What have we learned from research and practical projects that respond to environmental threats in a restorative framework? How might such efforts lead to managing public lands in more sustainable ways, and what more do we need to know? We will feature a variety of approaches to restoration ecology on diverse landscapes, such as re-wetting grasslands, restoring overgrazed agricultural lands, mitigating wildfire risks, and managing invasive plants without herbicides. We will think expansively and consider relationships within the land – among species, and with the soil, air and water – as well as relationships among people and organizations working to restore the land.
Featured Speakers & Topics
Katharine Suding, Distinguished Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, CU Boulder: “Let’s go wild: Collaborations with nature and people in ecosystem restoration”
Mike McHugh, Park Resource Technician IV, Eldorado Canyon State Park: “Managing invasive plants without herbicides: Successes, challenges, and what’s next”
Tim Seastedt, Free-range ecologist & Professor Emeritus, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, CU Boulder: “Introducing the CU Spruce Gulch Wildlife and Research Reserve: A place to demonstrate restoration outcomes”
Meg Halford, Forest and Grasslands Project Coordinator, Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting Wildfire Partners Team: “Managing grasslands to mitigate wildfire risk; Boulder County Fireshed work”
Andy Breiter, a rancher and the founder of Grama Grass & Livestock, a regenerative meat company based in Boulder County, CO: “Agriculture as part of our prairie ecosystem”
Morgan Crowley, Program Director, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers: “Simple,Wet Now?! How WRV is working to increase climate resilience by storing more water in our landscapes”
Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues or post event details on your website and social media.
We are charging a small registration fee this year of $7 to off-set the cost of the lunch. We ask that if you cannot come after registering that you cancel your reservation by following the instructions for cancellation on your ticket. Your fee will be refunded.
If you have questions, please reply to this email or contact us at webmaster.
We look forward to seeing you on March 15th!
