Project Title: Interpretive materials development at Garvin Brown Nature Preserve
Research Focus Areas: Carrying out an ecological survey and developing multimedia interpretive educational materials for a wide variety of audiences for a 45-acre nature preserve with diverse landscape types on the Ohio River in Prospect, Kentucky.
Objective:
This project aims to develop new educational content for Garvin Brown Nature Preserve. This 45-acre nature preserve, privately held by the nonprofit River Fields, holds fantastic research opportunities because of the uniqueness of the site and the fact that it has never been the subject of any extensive documentation or research. Located along the Ohio River in Prospect, the biodiverse site – once a family farm – includes several different types of wetlands with quite unusual topography, wildflower meadows, riparian forest, and shoreline. It also has the problems with invasive species typical of sites along the river. We plan to leverage the expertise of the Aqlan Lab at the University of Louisville, utilizing funding from a National Science Foundation grant, to explore and document this site for the first time in its history. Two dedicated research teams will collaborate to do an ecological inventory of the site and create multi-media digital interpretive content for a wide variety of audiences on the land’s flora, fauna, geology, hydrology, and cultural and natural history.
Project Components and Focus Areas
1. Ecological
o Create a comprehensive survey of Garvin Brown Nature Preserve’s ecosystems to capture the plant, animal, and insect species, as well as a geological and geographic overview. This includes creating an inaturalist site, so there will be opportunities for public participation as well.
2. Educational
o The development of written interpretive content on the site will be shared with the public through River Fields’s webpage, social media, on-site signage, and future interpretive tours of the site for the public and for River Fields’s community partner groups.
o Creation of interactive maps (Arc-GIS Storymaps, etc) of the site will show Garvin Brown’s different landscape types, flora, fauna, geology, interactions with the river, and both the past and projected future changes of the site over time.
3. Regional relevance
o Data and knowledge generated from the project can be relevant for other natural lands along the Ohio River Corridor and can be important resources to be shared with networks such as the Ohio River Way or the Ohio River Basin Alliance. Teams can also extend their research to the adjacent Hays Kennedy Park, which is managed by Metro Parks.
Two Research Teams:
■ Team 1: Conduct an ecological survey of Garvin Brown, creating a written inventory of flora and fauna, a base map and an inaturalist site for the preserve and documenting with photos and field notes.
■ Team 2: Create digital interpretive materials about the site for learners of all ages and levels, focusing on its flora and fauna, geology, hydrology, natural history, changes from the river’s flood cycles, and other changes over time. This includes creating ArcGIS Storymaps,
Logistics and Informational Support
■ Garvin Brown Nature Preserve is located at the end of Bass Road just off River Road in Prospect, adjacent to Hays Kennedy Park, which is managed by Metro Parks. It is a short convenient drive from the university, but researchers can camp on the site with permission from River Fields if they wish to. Because River Fields is the sole authority controlling the site, access is unlimited.
■ River Fields can supply expert support for the researchers including one environmental consultant with 25 years of knowledge of the site and River Fields’s President and CEO, who holds a Ph.D. in landscape architecture and serves as adjunct faculty to graduate students at another university. River Fields can also bring in volunteer naturalists from partner organizations to support the researchers.
Educational and Community Impact: The interpretive educational materials generated by the two research teams will be shared on River Fields’s website, e-news, social media, and on interpretive tours with the public and community groups, and they are also an open resource for the university to utilize. They can serve as a basic resource for future research groups working on this site or other similar sites along the Ohio River Corridor, and can be shared with Ohio River groups such as the Ohio River way or the Ohio River Basin Alliance. The researchers themselves can lead interpretive tours of the site for the public or for River Fields partner groups, including a teen group in foster care at the Home of the Innocents.
For additional information, contact: Dr. Kristin Faurest, President and CEO, River Fields
Email: kristin@riverfields.org