Evergreen State College
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TECHNICAL REPRESENTATIVE Carl Elliott |
COOPERATIVE REPRESENTATIVE John McLain |
Key Research, Technical Assistance, and Education Strengths
MISSION & COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES
Evergreen
As an innovative public liberal arts college, Evergreen emphasizes collaborative, interdisciplinary learning across significant differences. Our academic community engages students in defining and thinking critically about their learning. Evergreen supports and benefits from local and global commitment to social justice, diversity, environmental stewardship and service in the public interest.
The Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP)
We empower sustainable change by bringing nature, science, and environmental education into prisons.
In response to the dual crises of ecological degradation and mass incarceration, we aim to reduce recidivism while improving human well-being and ecosystem health. SPP brings together incarcerated individuals, scientists, corrections staff, students, and program partners to promote education, conserve biodiversity, practice sustainability, and help build healthy communities. Together, we reduce the environmental, economic, and human costs of prisons.
Collaborative activities to be supported through the CESU in the context of the CESU mission
The Evergreen State College and the Sustainability in Prisons Project, which they host, have a rich history of supporting science research and providing education and technical assistance to inform federal lands management. Through SPP, graduate and incarcerated students are routinely participating in education and training with federal agency partners to assist in habitat restoration and listed species recovery.
PRIMARY PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENTS, AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL DIVISIONS
Evergreen
The Evergreen State College is an innovative public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Since its founding in 1967, Evergreen has offered a unique, non-traditional curriculum that emphasizes collaborative, interdisciplinary learning across significant differences. Evergreen provides a broad liberal arts education, leading to a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and a dual Bachelor of Arts and Science degree. In addition to Evergreen’s undergraduate degrees, the College offers three Master’s degree programs including Master of Environmental Studies, Master in Teaching and Master of Public Administration. Evergreen’s innovative academic structure is designed to support students’ study interconnected subjects that reflect real-world complexity; this mode of study means we do not have departments. The college is organized into six divisions: Student and Academic Life, Advancement, College Relations, Finance and Operations, Inclusive Excellence and Student Success, and Indigenous Arts and Education.
Evergreen has a long history of commitment to public service. Our Public Service Centers help students, staff, and faculty draw connections with and give back to their communities. These Centers are the Center for Community-Based Learning and Action, Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, Sustainability in Prisons Project, the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, and the Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
The Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP)
The SPP partnership was founded by The Evergreen State College (Evergreen) and Washington Department Corrections (WA Corrections) and includes dozens of other collaborating organizations. SPP is a statewide effort with programs in all 12 prisons in Washington State. Programs encompass several focus areas: environmental education, conservation, sustainable operations, community contributions, and restorative nature. Conservation programs are most relevant for this application.
SPP is co-directed by a representative from Evergreen and a representative from WA Department of Corrections. A three person management team at Evergreen leads SPP’s ecological conservation and environmental education and training programs.
SPP engages incarcerated students and technicians, enrolled Evergreen students, faculty, corrections staff, and non-profit organizations in collaborative, interdisciplinary learning across differences. Our science and sustainability education programs are aligned with the social justice, diversity, environmental stewardship, and public service elements of Evergreen’s mission.
Program Coordinator positions are staffed by Evergreen graduate students working 20 hours per week. Student-staff are supervised by the Evergreen side of the partnership and typically recruited from the College’s Master of Environmental Studies and Master of Public Administration graduate programs. Student staff work program coordination for two-year terms and they provide the majority of the education and training delivered to incarcerated students and technicians. Since 2009, SPP-Evergreen has employed 50 Evergreen students in long-term positions and provided honoraria or internship stipends to dozens more.
SPP Project: Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies
SPP Evergreen staff manage a program at Mission Creek Corrections Center to rear and release federally endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies. Partners include Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), incarcerated technicians, WA Corrections, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Oregon Zoo, Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) and SPP Evergreen staff. Technicians feed and care for butterflies at every life stage, track and maintain genetic lineages and pairings, observe exacting protocols, and manage detailed data. While the caterpillar larvae are in diapause through the fall and early winter, technicians update protocols, assist in reporting and planning, receive educational workshops and seminar on topics in ecological science. They earn a certification at the completion of a full year in the program.
SPP Project: Conservation nursery plants and seeds for ecological restoration
SPP continues to be among the most generative organizations for Pacific Northwest Regional lowland prairie restoration. With support from JBLM, the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM), WDFW and USFWS, SPP produces native plants and seeds used by state and federal agencies and conservation organizations. We grow plants documented to be food and habitat for rare and endangered species, such as the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly, Oregon silverspot butterfly and greater sage-grouse.
All conservation nursery programs include robust education, training, and skill development for incarcerated technicians at the multiple WA Corrections facilities hosting nursery programs. Education and training is provided on topics such as restoration ecology, wildlife conservation, ecological horticulture and botany. Technicians earn a certification at the completion of a full year in the program. Training is documented in the Conservation Nursery Manual, a living document providing production protocols. These protocols are continually updated with approximately 83 species established to date.
SPP Project: Emergent Pre-vegetated Mat (EVM)
SPP has cultivated pre-vegetated mats of wetland plant species for habitat restoration benefiting the Oregon spotted frog and salmon species. Thanks to significant support and ingenuity of staff and incarcerated technicians, a surplus 10,000 square foot aquaculture facility at Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC) was converted to an aquaponics system. The EVM team includes incarcerated technicians, Stafford Creek Corrections Center maintenance staff, Evergreen’s program coordinators and managers, JBLM, CNLM, WDFW, and USFWS.
The plants in this system are species of native sedges and rushes, classified as emergent vegetation. In the aquaponics system, the emergents are cultivated in coir (coconut fiber) mats without soil. Water circulates between the plant beds and fish tanks to create a closed nutrient system that reduces inputs and increases biological safety from pathogens. The incarcerated technicians receive robust training and education from SPP staff in wetland ecology, wildlife conservation, ecological horticulture and botany. They earn a certification at the completion of a full year in the program.
STAFF & FACULTY
Faculty
| Name | Area of Expertise |
| Abir Biswas | Geology, earth science, and biogeochemistry |
| Frederica Bowcutt | Botany, ecology, and environmental history |
| Lalita Calabria | Botany, phytochemistry, and systematics |
| Gerardo Chin-Leo | Oceanography and marine biology |
| Amy Cook | Ecology and vertebrate biology |
| Dylan Fischer | Forest and plant ecology |
| Kevin Francis | History of science and technology |
| Anthony Levenda | Environmental justice, electricity infrastructure, and climate advocacy |
| Pauline Yu | Marine science |
| Shangrila Joshi | Climate justice, climate policy and politics, and political ecology |
| Prita Lal | Food justice, social movements, and urban agriculture |
| Carri LeRoy | Freshwater ecology, quantitative biology, and environmental education |
| Erin Martin | Chemical oceanography, biogeochemistry, and freshwater ecology |
| John Withey | Ecology, conservation biology, and wildlife biology |
| Michael Paros | Veterinary medicine |
| Carolyn Prouty | Health science, public health, and bioethics |
| Paul Przybylowicz | Ecology, biology, and mycology |
| Martha Rosemeyer | Agricultural ecology and food systems |
| Steven Scheuerell | Ecology, botany, and plant pathology |
| Tyrus Smith | Environmental studies and public policy |
| Alison Styring | Ornithology |
| Erik Thuesen | Marine science, zoology, and ecophysiology |
SPP staff
| Name | Area of Expertise |
| Kelli Bush | Co-Director; conservation program management; budget; media; grant and contract management; org, program, and partnership planning and development; program coordinator and staff supervision |
| Carl Elliott | Conservation Nursery Manager: plant and seed production; research; grant and contract management; program education and training; and security; program coordinator supervision |
| Emily Passarelli | Education and Outreach Manager: educational materials development and resource curation; web, social media, and outreach communication; asset management; program coordinator supervision |
Additional staff with relevant expertise
| Name | Area of Expertise |
| Dan Cygnar | Molecular biology |
| Sina Hill | Analytical analysis (field sampling, lab methods, instrumentation support) |
| Alberto Napuli | Molecular biology, boat support |
| Jenna Nelson | Analytical analysis (field sampling, lab methods, instrumentation support) |
| Trisha Towanda | Marine science and PNW natural history |
FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, CENTERS, OR INSTITUTES
College facilities and equipment
| Facilities and Equipment | Detail |
| Aquaria/Marine Labs | |
| Natural History Museum | Dry: 8,163 insect specimens; 1,300 mammal specimens; 1,907 bird specimens; 245 specimens in the skull and bone collection; and assorted shells, nests, and eggs. |
| Fluids: 439 specimens ranging from marine invertebrates to arthropods, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. | |
| Herbarium: 3,066 plant specimens; 400 lichen specimens; 457 fungi specimens; and assorted algae | |
| specimens, moss specimens, and botanical teaching collections. | |
| Chemistry Labs | |
| General, Micro, and Molecular Biology Labs | |
| Extensive aquatic and terrestrial field sampling equipment | |
| Extensive laboratory teaching equipment | |
| Microscopy Laboratories
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Large assortment of student level stereo and compound microscopes |
| Inverted Compound Scope with bight field, epifluorescence, confocal, and DIC | |
| Upright Compound Scope with bight field, dark field, PCM, DIC, and fluorescence | |
| SEM with secondary and backscatter detectors | |
| Z-stacked focusing stereo microscopes | |
| Analytical Instrumentation
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AA |
| CHN Analyzer | |
| Discrete Analyzer | |
| FT-IR | |
| FT-NMR | |
| GCMS | |
| Hg Analyzer | |
| IC | |
| ICP-MS | |
| Boats
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Lunds (4 – 14′) |
| Boston Whaler (1 – 17′) |
Additional SPP facilities and equipment
Taylor’s checkerspot rearing facilities
From 2013-2019, butterflies at MCCCW were primarily reared in a single 24×10-ft greenhouse with UVtransmitting glass panels. In 2017, SPP received a grant from USFWS (#F17AC00495) to construct a second greenhouse (28 ft. x 12 ft.) to expand the rearing capacity of the program. Construction began in the fall of 2018 and was completed by February 2019. These structures provide the abundant natural light, automatic and manual climate controls required to achieve the environmental conditions mandated by rearing protocols developed by Oregon Zoo. A separated greenhouse room houses larval host plants over the winter followed by ovipositing females in early spring. An 8×10-ft wooden building is used to house larvae during the cold diapause life-stage. The building has custom ventilation and cooling designs to simulate winter temperatures and humidity.
Conservation nursery facilities
Conservation plant production relies upon climate-controlled greenhouses and unheated hoop house infrastructure in combination with outside, irrigated growing space for cultivation. Production now occurs at two facilities: The Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, WA and the Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC) in Aberdeen, WA. The combined capacity of the two facilities is 3,600 square feet of climate controlled greenhouse space, 5,400 square covered hoop house space and 6,600 square feet of outside growing area.
SPP seed production for regional restoration prioritizes species that require significant hand cultivation, harvest, and cleaning. SPP manages seed production at two facilities, Washington Corrections Center (WCC) and Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW). The plants are cultivated in 32’ x 4’ raised beds. WCC has 29 beds totaling 3,172 sq. ft.; WCCW has 12 beds totaling 1,536 sq. ft.
Emergent Vegetated Mat Facilities
SPP grows EVM in the aquaponics greenhouses at Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC) in Aberdeen, WA. The aquaponics system integrates aquaculture and hydroponics to create ideal conditions for aquatic flora and fauna. The aquaponics greenhouse was repurposed from a conventional aquaculture farm. The facility includes a 5,000 square ft. climate controlled greenhouse containing fish rearing, biological water treatment and growing beds. An additional 5,400 square feet of heated hoop house contains grow beds for the production of emergent vegetated mats.
RESEARCH, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, & EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
SPP’s conservation programs include recovery and rearing of Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly, propagating and developing protocols for the conservation nursery production of plant species and creating specialized plant material for wetland restoration. Though each have a different species or ecological objective, they share three characteristics:
- These programs depend on strong collaborations with expert partner, incarcerated people, corrections staff, students, SPP staff, land managers, scientist and community partners sharing their knowledge, resources, and enthusiasms. Federal and State land managers provide a proportion of funding, conservation protocols and objectives while involving a unique community in ecological restoration.
- The conservation programs focus on providing infrastructure, technician training, and engaging a larger community in species conservation. Through conscientious collaboration, specific objectives of land managers and restoration ecologists can be realized.
- Incarcerated program partners are both students and technicians; they receive formal education and in conjunction with vocational training. These internships have the capacity to provide college level credits and technicians are awarded SPP certificates upon completion of certification requirements.