Microhabitat Program Resource Center
An open access resource for new and emerging microhabitat programs
Microhabitat Program
Resource Center
An open access resource for new and emerging microhabitat programs
University and college campuses hold vast acres of land ready for ecological restoration, and they serve as training grounds for the next generation of leaders in the microhabitat movement. Students, researchers, and administrators have created countless programs to support native plants on their campuses, but many efforts remain disconnected, and newcomers often don’t know where to start. Our Campus Programs Directory bridges these gaps by listing national organizations and campus-specific initiatives, making it easier to share resources, collaborate, and inspire new projects–helping push the microhabitat movement to new heights, one campus at a time.
If you represent a microhabitat program with restoration efforts centered on a university or college campus and are interested in being included in our directory, please contact us at in**@******************ss.org.
National Programs
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Description: “Re:wild Your Campus is leading a nationwide movement to transform campuses into vibrant, sustainable, and safe environments. We work closely with campus administrators, students, faculty, and local organizations to eliminate synthetic pesticides, implement organic land care, and rewild spaces through projects tailored to each campus’s unique needs and goals.”
Initiatives:
- Green Grounds Certification: A tiered certification program focused on eliminating pesticide use from campus grounds and encouraging the transition to organic landcare. Students can apply on behalf of their campus.
- Ground Up Advocacy Bootcamp: A virtual training (free for students) that prepares the next generation of community leaders by emphasizing “coalition building, multimedia training, campaign strategy, and volunteer recruitment in addition to herbicide-specific education.”
- Organic Pilot Program: A 2-3 year program in which experts collaborate with the campus grounds team to design and implement an organic land care plan in suitable sites on campus, providing “an educational foundation for the grounds team to transition the entire campus to organic land care.” 10 organic pilot programs have been implemented so far in campuses across the country.
- Rewilding Projects: Re:wild provides guidance to students looking to reintroduce native plants and restore natural ecosystems on their campuses.
Re:wild You Campus Student Network: You can sign up here for an online community that “provides a space for students (and community members) to connect and share ideas, jobs, internships, and knowledge”.
Contact information: ca****@****ld.org
Headquarters: Portland, OR
Description: “Thinking globally and acting locally, Bee Campus USA provides a framework for university and college campus communities to work together to conserve native pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and reducing the use of pesticides.” Bee Campus USA is an initiative of The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and associated with Bee City USA.
Initiatives:
- Bee Campus USA Affiliation: Students and staff can apply to make their college or university a Bee Campus USA affiliate. With the support of Xerces staff, Bee Campus USA affiliates make several commitments to conserve native pollinators on their campuses, including establishing a committee of students and staff to advocate for pollinators, creating pollinator habitats on campus, offering service-learning projects, and more. There are currently 215 campus affiliates.
Contact information: be********@****es.org
Headquarters: Reston, VA
Description: As an initiative of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), “The National Wildlife Federation’s Higher Education Programs is a cornerstone of our mission to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. Working with students, staff and faculty at nearly all of the 4,100 colleges and universities across the U.S., the National Wildlife Federation’s campus team fosters appreciation and protection of wildlife in ways that advance student leadership, restore habitat and conserve natural resources on and beyond the campus, and prepare the next generation of wildlife and conservation professionals.”
Initiatives:
- Campus Greening: “For colleges and universities committed to protecting wildlife and habitat on campus, implementing onsite sustainability initiatives and providing green educational programming for the next generation of conservation leaders.” Students, faculty, and staff can apply on behalf of their college and universities to make their campus a Certified Wildlife Habitat Campus or to take the Campus Pollinator Pledge.
- EcoCareers: “The EcoCareers Summit and online career center help students and other young leaders explore and prepare for careers in sustainability by connecting them with diverse professionals, inspiring stories, career pathway examples, and other green job information and resources.” Read more about future career pathways here.
- EcoLeaders: High school and college students can develop a sustainability project on campus and earn certifications for their project-based leadership. Additionally, EcoLeaders gain access to the EcoLeaders community hub where they can find resources and career opportunities for environmental leadership positions.
- Offers internships through NWF
Contact information: ca****@****ld.org
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Description: “SER advances the science, practice, and policy of ecological restoration to sustain biodiversity, improve resilience in a changing climate, and re-establish an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture.” SER contributes towards restoration initiatives around the world, but the initiatives we highlight below are specific to their efforts that support restoration on university campuses.
- Offers a Student and Emerging Professional membership that is “designed to support your growth, amplify your voice, and help you make a meaningful impact, whether you’re a student, a recent graduate, or transitioning from another field.” As a member, you gain access to workshops and webinars, career development tools, discounts on SER conference registration, and more. You can also join the Student and Emerging Professional Committee–“this volunteer-led group helps shape programming, resources, and advocacy for early-career restorationists.”
- Hosts an annual conference that students are welcome to attend.
- Student Association Program: “Organized and run by students, student associations can be formed at any accredited academic institution and provide a means for those students interested in pursuing a career in some facet of ecological restoration to come together in a like-minded group.” Active student associations are currently in place at 36 institutions.
- One stand-out example of an active student association is the University of Washington Chapter (SER-UW), whose mission is to “bring together students at the University of Washington with a common interest in the science and practice of ecological restoration, and a common goal to restore and sustain the biodiversity of our beautiful campus.” One of their main initiatives is the SER-UW Native Plant Nursery–a student-led operation that has been growing thousands of native plants for restoration projects on and off campus since its establishment in 2013. Other current projects involve the landscape restoration of several sites on campus (see the complete list here). To support these initiatives, they host weekly work sessions where student volunteers can remove invasive species and plant natives. Members can take advantage of the restoration projects to conduct undergraduate research projects.
Contact information: me********@*er.org
Headquarters: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Description: “AASHE empowers higher education faculty, administrators, staff and students to be effective change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation. AASHE enables members to translate information into action by offering essential resources and professional development to a diverse, engaged community of sustainability leaders.”
Initiatives:
- Campus Sustainability Hub: “A one-stop shop for AASHE members to access toolkits and resource collections about all aspects of sustainability in higher education, from academics to operations to governance”
- Professional Learning toolkit: “Workshops, courses, webinars and other programs empowering higher education to advance sustainability”
- Offers a variety of resources for staff, students, faculty, and administrators, including a bulletin board that posts job and internship opportunities, free webinars and other educational offerings, and more.
- AASHE Conference & Expo is an annual conference that offers a place to share resources and ideas pertinent to sustainability in higher education. All are welcome to register.
Explore their engagement guide on how to best engage with AASHE and take advantage of all the resources they have to offer for both students and administrators involved in sustainability in higher education
Contact information: me********@*er.org
Headquarters: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Description: The flagship education program of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). “The core SEEDS program components offer hands-on, engaging experiences with ecology that exhibit the relevance and applications of the science. Each experience also provides opportunities to interact with a diverse group of ecologists and other motivated students to both broaden and deepen students’ understanding of ecology and potential careers. Focused mainly at the undergraduate level, with extension services for communities, high schools, graduate students, and international collaborations, the SEEDS program promotes an ecology profession with wide representation to ensure environmental understanding and a sustainable future for all.”
Initiatives:
- SEEDS Campus Ecology Chapters: Existing and newly formed student groups that “support the mission of SEEDS – to promote ecology opportunities for underrepresented students or community members” may apply to become a SEEDS Campus Ecology Chapter. Chapter members receive a certificate that recognizes the involvement of their institution, access to a grant opportunity for their club (up to $5000), and the opportunity to engage in SEEDS events–read more on how to start a chapter. The SEEDS Chapter Handbook provides guidance for managing your student group, and if it’s the right fit for SEEDS.
- National Field Trips: “We sponsor diverse students currently enrolled in undergraduate studies at a US institution to travel to different research stations to engage with scientists and professionals with hands-on learning experiences and workshops to discuss career development and the future of our science field.” Interested undergraduate students can apply each year.
- Regional Field Trips: SEEDS chapters can apply for funding to sponsor a field trip for all nearby chapters to an ecologically significant site within their region.
- The annual SEEDS Leadership Meeting “is an opportunity for SEEDS student leaders to engage in a dialogue about the connections between science and society.”
- Offers travel awards for undergraduate students and graduate alumni to attend the ESA Annual Meeting.
- Join the SEEDS Listserv for information about opportunities and events.
Contact information: se***@*sa.org
Regional Programs
Headquarters: Collegeville, Minnesota
Description: “The Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability is a network of staff, faculty and students from colleges and universities working together to promote sustainability throughout the Upper Midwest. We welcome everyone in higher education who wants to create a culture of sustainability within their campus community, working to meet the needs of all people without harming future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.”
Initiatives:
- Coffee Chats: Monthly meetings open to all individuals who are helping to lead sustainability efforts on their campus. “These facilitated meetings are an opportunity to share best practices, resources and struggles with your regional peers.”
- Offers an annual summer retreat “for two days of professional development and networking with other sustainability leaders in the Upper Midwest”
- Annual UMACS Conference for those “working to advance sustainability and inclusivity on a higher education campus” in the Upper Midwest
- UMACS Sustainability Fellows Program: Open to paid students on a UMACS member campus (primarily undergraduates, but open to graduate students). Includes series of webinars that provide leadership training and professional development skills, and the opportunity to to develop a team project to benefit the UMACS community.
- UMACS CoLabs: Offers regular group meetings on specific sustainability topics where members can discuss ideas and support each other’s initiatives.
- Provides community resources on job opportunities and other networks pertinent to sustainability in the Midwest
- Sign up for their monthly newsletter here
Contact information: Megan Voorhees, UMACS Executive Director (me***@***cs.org)
Headquarters: No physical headquarters. SESN represents 4-year universities in states from Louisiana to Virginia.
Description: “This network serves as a regional resource for the primary sustainability “coordinators” from colleges and universities in the Southeast who would like to collaborate and share best practices.”
Initiatives:
- Provides the following resources that enable its members to collaborate: monthly conference call, email listserv, annual summit at a member campus, web-based collaboration and archival site. Only full-time campus employees that oversee campus sustainability initiatives on a Southeastern university campus may apply for membership.
Contact information: in**@**sn.us
Campus-based programs
Location: University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
Mission/description: “The University of Florida (UF) Native Plant Nursery is a new operation on campus dedicated to teaching, extension, and research concerning native plant materials. In doing so we actively produce native plant materials year-round for restoration and ecological enhancement work on UF owned lands. This includes restoration of UF conservation areas and urban forests, as well as enhancement of green spaces with pollinator gardens, meadows, and more. In doing so we provide space and opportunities for UF students to learn about native flora, restoration work, native landscaping, nursery operations, and gain hands-on experience in growing plant materials.”
Initiatives:
- Ecological enhancement and restoration projects include groundcover restoration, meadow installation, and the construction of UF’s first carnivorous bog garden
- Supports paid undergraduate research internships
- Offers student volunteer opportunities at the nursery (e.g., creating soil substrate, working with propagative material, etc.)
- Offers native plants and educational material to the local Gainesville community during an annual sale
Contact Information: Dr. Gage LaPierre (ga****@*fl.edu)
Location: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL)
Mission/description: “Our mission is to provide a venue for exemplary rainwater management, outreach and education, and service-learning and research opportunities integrated into the campus system.”
Initiatives:
- “Creates service-learning opportunities for students and community volunteers”, including clean-up events, pollinator fairs, informational webinar series, and more.
- Community volunteers provided through collaborations with the Champaign County Master Gardeners and East Central Illinois Master Naturalists
- Provides native habitats for pollinators and wildlife. See list of certifications here
- Developing native plant garden guides that include general gardening advice as well as plant recommendations for the region of Champaign, IL
Contact Information:
- Organization email: re**************@******is.edu
- Eliana Brown, RORG Director and Water Quality and Stormwater Specialist at UI Urbana-Champaign (br*****@******is.edu)
Location: Northern Michigan University (Marquette, MI)
Mission/description: “Our purpose is to improve planning and coordination for sustainability on campus, increase the implementation of sustainable initiatives and practices on campus, and support education on sustainability inside and out of the classroom.” SHINE supports a variety of environmental initiatives, including those that focus on campus restoration with native plants.
Initiatives:
- Woodland Park: The development of “an experiential learning forest and garden” across a 20 acre parcel of forested land adjacent to NMU campus. This area will include pollinator gardens, a seed library, an Indigenous medicine garden, paths that allow guided forest walks, hoop houses that will grow food for the NMU Food Pantry, and more.
- Campus Nursery: A parcel of land used for “growing native, nativar and cultivated native species to use in future landscaping projects on campus”. Undergraduate interns work in the nursery to care for the plants. This idea is adapted from multiple student submitted Green Fund projects.
- Green Fund: Green Fund: “A student-paid fee that funds sustainable student-led initiatives on campus” A $5 opt-out fee for students, generating $200,000 in revenue for sustainability initiatives since the fund’s inception in 2020. Over 50 ideas have been submitted by students, and 15 of those have been funded and implemented, including initiatives to convert turf grass to clover lawns, to construct a rain garden to contribute towards ecological diversity on campus, and to create native pollinator gardens.
Contact Information:
- Organization email: sh***@*mu.edu
- Dr. Jessica Thompson, Director of SHINE and Assistant Vice President for Sustainability at NMU (je******@*mu.edu)
Location: University of California, Santa Barbara (Goleta, CA)
Mission/description: “The Cheadle Center manages more than 340 acres of open space between Ellwood Mesa and Goleta Slough. These project sites and management areas serve to protect and strengthen the region’s ecology and ecosystems through habitat conservation, upland restoration, wetland creation and enhancement, and the implementation of sustainable stormwater management solutions. These open spaces of Goleta & UCSB’s Campus are characterized by a rich complex of oak woodland, coastal sage scrub, grassland, and wetland ecosystems, the area is known for its relatively high level of biodiversity. Through careful integration with local watersheds and surrounding natural areas, the Cheadle Center’s management areas provide an important corridor and refuge for wildlife and ensure the long-term preservation of the region’s natural resources.”
Initiatives:
- Native Plant Nursery and Green House: This on-campus nursery grows locally native plant material that is then used for campus restoration projects. Students assist with the propagation process through internships or volunteer work in the nursery, and they host community volunteer days each year.
- North Campus Open Space: This area includes 136 acres of restored wetland and is “widely used for teaching, research, and nature connection for students of all ages.” The restoration of this region began in 2017 and many of their structural goals have been achieved, but there are opportunities to be involved in the continued restoration planting efforts through their greenhouse volunteer opportunities and monthly community planting days.
- Their restoration projects on land throughout and adjacent to UCSB “contain a wide variety of plants and animals that make up the habitats of California’s Central Coast.” Some examples include their restoration of East Bluff or the Campus Lagoon. A stand-out example is the Manzanita Village Restoration Project: With the help of more than 50 UCSB student interns and volunteers planting over 80,000 native plants, this project ensured “upland native grassland habitat restoration surrounding the wetlands and the creation of 1300 linear feet of bioswales” with ongoing monitoring.
Contact Information: nc**@*******sb.edu
Location: Eastern Washington University (Cheney, WA)
Mission/description: “This major sustainability initiative will restore 120 acres of campus land to its native “Palouse” prairie habitat. In addition to giving our students countless learning and research opportunities, the project benefits the environment for the entire region. Developed in cooperation with representatives from area Native communities, this project will create a model for boosting regional biodiversity while establishing an educational and recreational space that connects visitors to a long-lost landscape.”
Initiatives:
- The project will include a recreational trail system, a living laboratory to provide research opportunities for students and faculty, and over 120 native plant species. Ongoing goals include site monitoring, broadening seed biodiversity, and collecting additional data with the ultimate goal of a self-sustainable native site.
- “Provides renewed access and educational opportunities for local tribes” in coordination with the Lucy Covington Initiative
- Seed Increase Garden: Grows local genotypes of native plant cultivars to produce seeds for the Prairie Restoration Project in addition to other on-campus sustainability projects. Managed primarily by undergraduate students.
- Climate Resiliency Landscape Master Plan: “directs the university community on managing and enhancing natural spaces” in a way that supports a “sustainable campus landscape honoring the Spokane People’s traditional homelands and promoting environmental responsibility”
- Current projects include replacing turf grass with drought-tolerant native plants that provide habitats for native pollinators, limiting the use of chemical fertilizers, improving existing wildlife corridors, and more.
Contact Information:
- Dr. Erik Budsberg, Project Lead for Prairie Restoration Project and Director of Utilities and Sustainability at EWU (eb*******@*wu.edu)
- Erin Endres, Climate Resilience Specialist in the Office of Sustainability at EWU (ee*****@*wu.edu)
Location: Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA)
Mission/description: LEAD is a restoration program run by graduate students at WWU that “provides experiential community engagement opportunities for students to apply environmental knowledge outside the classroom” and “seeks to improve habitat in and around the WWU campus to provide ecological, social, and educational benefits to our community.”
Initiatives:
- Hosts weekly work parties where volunteers contribute to their restoration efforts–their current project is using the Miyawaki Method of afforestation to plant a mini-forest comprised of native plants
- Teaches a 2-credit restoration seminar for WWU students
- Offers plant resources pertinent to their locality (e.g., Invasive Species Guide and Bare Root Plant Guide)
Contact Information: le**@*wu.edu
Location: University of California, Davis (Davis, CA)
Mission/description: “We steward our campus grounds as a resource for encouraging our students and community members to become environmental leaders, for the public to learn about climate change and the importance of regionally appropriate landscaping, for visitors to informally explore the academic richness of UC Davis, and so much more!”
Initiatives:
- Offers “Learning by Leading” internships in which students can gain experience in ecological land management, habitat horticulture, plant propagation, and more
- Arboretum Waterway Flood Protection and Habitat Enhancement enhances “water flow and quality while creating a more resilient ecosystem” through shoreline stabilization, replacing concrete with native trees and shrubs, and more, with the help of students and community volunteers.
- Provides native plant resources, including an All-Star Plant Database that provides information on how to grow some of the horticulturists’ favorite plants for California, a list of plants well-suited for the California Central Valley, and resources for creating pollinator habitats.
- Climate-Ready Gardening Toolkit provides “reliable resources, practical gardening tips, and plants that thrive in our area” with a focus on supporting pollinator habitats and drought-tolerant native plants
- UC Davis GATEways Project: “A major focus of the GATEways Project is to link undergraduate learning with community engagement. We partner with campus departments to create participatory student learning experiences and innovative leadership and service learning internships, in which students plan and implement outreach initiatives, beautification efforts, and educational events for K-12 students and campus visitors”
- Offers plant sales throughout the year
- Undergraduate led microhabitat initiatives at UC Davis include the Davis Rewilding Society–a student-run organization that hosts volunteer planting projects to “install and maintain small plots of native plants on and off UC Davis’s campus” in an effort to increase native biodiversity and promote human connections to the environment
Contact Information: ar*******@*****is.edu
Location: University of California, Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA)
Mission/description: “The Native Plant Program (NPP) at the UCSC Arboretum & Botanic Garden stewards and maintains the Entrance Native Garden and the California Conservation Garden, and engages student experiential learning through the Interactive Ecology Internship Program. The NPP also partners with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on vegetation mapping and the California Plant Rescue Program on conservation through a seed saving project.”
Initiatives:
- Offers an Interactive Ecology internship in which students work in conservation gardens and seed bank in the UCSC Arboretum
Contact Information:
- Jeremy Silberman, Native Plant Program Student Coordinator (jf******@**sc.edu)
- Brett Hall, California Native Plant Program Director (br***@**sc.edu)