NSF Award
2324899
This planning grant will support development of a 10-year strategic plan for Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center (CMERC), an ecological field station established in 2018 by Michigan State University (MSU). This 350-acre property was previously the MSU Muck Soils Research Farm, an important site for agricultural research for over 70 years, before closing in 2012. After 2012, the property was quickly reclaimed as a wetland, albeit a degraded one with altered hydrology and invasion of non-native plants. When CMERC was founded, it was with the broad vision of establishing a long-term multi-disciplinary research program on inland wetland ecosystems that integrates undergraduate education and training and community engagement. Given CMERC’s history and current state, it is an ideal location to study health of inland wetland ecosystems, particularly in the face of human land-use activities and global climate change. Its proximity to the main MSU campus makes it an accessible space for teaching and learning activities and training undergraduate students in field-based research. With a vibrant community engagement program, students can gain formative experiences communicating science and working with diverse interest groups. Further, CMERC has been actively engaged with Indigenous communities to listen and learn about the history of the land and how to better incorporate traditional ecological knowledge approaches to understand a diverse ecosystem. <br/><br/>The planning grant will support a strategic plan that prioritizes activities for the center overall, as well as for its three focal areas: research, learning, and community engagement. Specific objectives are to (1) formalize a mission and vision statement for CMERC, (2) build strategies to ensure its financial sustainability, (3) develop clear goals for long-term research on the wetland ecosystems that are forward thinking and provide opportunities for hypothesis-driven research, and (4) develop core principles for being inclusive, equitable, and just in all activities. The strategic planning process will include (1) identification and recruitment of participants from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, (2) information gathering from other biological field stations, including virtual meetings with directors and on-site visits, (3) facilitated retreats with planning participants, (4) creation of working groups, and (5) drafting, reviewing, and finalizing the strategic plan. Anticipated outcomes will include a written strategic plan that will guide the next 5 – 10 years of activities in research, teaching and learning, and community engagement with discrete metrics to track our success. This plan will serve as a living document and will be publicly available on the CMERC website.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
