Urban Environmental Restoration, International Training Centre (IUTC), Seoul, South Korea, July 2007. Susan Buis co-taught this course addressing urban ecology, project planning, invasive plant control, site maintenance, adaptive management and more. Attended by both professionals, mostly engineers and landscape architects, and graduate students, this six-day course coordinated by the Director of the IUTC, Professor Kwi-Gon Kim of the Seoul National University, included both classroom sessions and a two-day field trip. Field sessions offered feedback on existing projects during installation and approaches for new sites slated for restoration. The United Nations' Habitat Program sponsors the IUTC. Co-teachers included staff from King County and Adolfson/ESA.
Workshop participants and teachers along the Cheonggye River, Seoul, a $900 million urban river daylighting project completed in 2005.
Shoreline Management and Stabilization Using Vegetation, Coastal Training Program Washington, Olympia, WA, April 2006 and 2007. A one-day workshop on bioengineering solutions for shoreline management. Handouts addressing background information, site assessment, project planning, vegetation/species selection, site preparation and installation were provided. A field trip included visiting a recently completed streambank stabilization project and a ten-year old slope stabilization planting.
Writing Effective Plant Specifications for Restoration and Mitigation Projects, Society for Ecological Restoration, Northwest chapter annual conference, April 2005; Society for Ecological Restoration and Society of Wetland Scientists, PNW chapters joint annual conference, March 2003. An eight-hour workshop focused on information needed to write or review good plant specifications. Topics included species selection, plant sources, plant forms, project types, pest and disease inspection, transportation, storage, guarantees, mulch, and fertilizers. Container-grown and bare root plants were available for hands-on lab. Attendees received a CD with a set of master specifications and handouts on related topics such as genetic provenance, calculating planting quantities, plant bid requests, and conditions for outplanting success.
How to Evaluate and Condition Wetland and Mitigation Design Plans, University of Washington, Professional Development Program, Seattle, WA, February 2003. Co-taught with Dyanne Sheldon. A two-day course covered a variety of tools to assist planners and others in reviewing and writing effective conditions for wetland and upland design plans. Topics ranged from choosing mitigation sites through reading grading plans, understanding plant specifications and correlating monitoring methods to performance standards. Handouts, including a CD, were provided.
Wetland and Upland Habitat Restoration Design, University of Washington Professional Development Program, Seattle, WA, presented annually since 2002. Co-taught with Dyanne Sheldon. This two-day course for restoration professionals emphasized practical assessment and design skills to help project designers translate their ecological knowledge into restoration projects that will succeed. Course covered all details of project design and implementation from site analysis to monitoring and adaptive management.
Graduate Student Guest Lectures, University of Washington, presented frequently since 1999. Two and a half hour lectures on a variety of topics concerning practical aspects of restoration project design and implementation, including plant selection and specifications, installation timing, maintenance issues, proper planting techniques, plant salvage, live stakes, and seed collection and propagation.
Propagation Workshop,botany program at The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, 2002. Two hour presentation on propagation techniques for native plants. Emphasis on challenges particular to native plant propagation and native plant industry. Also discussions of plant biology that makes vegetative reproduction possible; included demonstration of taking cuttings and hands on experience for participants.
Installation Specifications, Society of Wetland Scientists Conference, Hood River, OR, 2001. Full day workshop on improving installation specifications for native plant restoration projects. Topics included soil preparation, planting techniques, fertilizing & mulching, inspection, guarantees, maintenance, and more. Handouts and master specifications provided. Emphasis on real-world problems and solutions and remedying common problems that can delay projects, increase costs, and reduce success rates.
Restoration Techniques and Processes,The Starflower Foundation, Seattle, WA, 2000. Custom-designed half-day workshop on native plant restoration in public parks with project conditions such as aesthetic requirements, compacted soils, lack of irrigation, freedom to experiment, and up to five years of maintenance possible. Topics addressed included species selection, poor soils, plant sizing and density, weed control and maintenance, mulching, timeline/phasing, planting methods, and cover crops.
Plant It Right,Washington State University Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program, Olympia, WA, 2000-2001. Provided technical information and narration for video and fact sheet on planting techniques.
Planting Training and Supervision, the Olympia Zen Center, Olympia, WA, 2000. Provided on-site consulting and supervision during volunteer planting for wetland mitigation plan. Facilitated problem solving on species selection and plant placement considering aesthetic and plan requirements. Demonstrated planting techniques and worked with volunteers throughout the day.
view/print table of presentations and workshops 1993 to present