Floating Treatment Wetlands (FTWs)
Third Creek is a heavily polluted urban stream which runs through the University of Tennessee campus, impacted by sediment, runoff, and legacy pollutants. Since 2019, Mike Ross has led students in a green infrastructure course aimed at the design and deployment of floating treatment wetlands along the bank of the creek. These modular units are ideal for remediation of water quality issues through both the uptake of chemical pollutants and trapping of physical objects behind the root curtain while retaining an aesthetic sensibility by re-naturalizing the bank of Third Creek with native wetland plants.
Green Roof Experimental Lab (GREL)
The Green Roof Experimental Lab (GREL) is conducting research on urban ecology, green roof performance, ecological succession, and competition on green roofs. Green roofs help mitigate stormwater, protect architecture, increase building thermal efficiency, reduce urban heat island effect, provide habitat, and ecosystem services that all living things depend on. While cities may be the source of many environmental issues they are also one of the best places to initiate remediation and mitigation efforts. Through the research and implementation efforts by GREL, the Third Creek Initiative, and academic programs in Sustainable Landscape Design, landscape architecture, green infrastructure, and urban ecology Vols are playing an active role in helping The University of Tennessee demonstrate its commitment to building a sustainable and resilient future for all of Tennessee.
E.T.R.E.C.
The University of Tennessee is one of 106 land-grant universities, whose endeavor is to establish, build upon, and streamline processes to identify community needs and activate university resources to meet those needs. As a comprehensive and diverse research facility, the ETREC site is a perfect fit to create a space intended to be a point of public education on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
This project was designed by a small group of graduate Landscape Architecture and undergraduate Sustainable Landscape Design students, and implemented by Plant Science’s Sustainable Landscape Construction course students.
The lawn space has been converted into a native pollinator garden to support a sustainable and functional ecosystem. The native plants that were selected provide pops of color throughout the seasons and are essential food sources for the many pollinators found here in Tennessee. The patio space and gabion wall provide a seating area for employees and visitors alike. To the left of the building is a designed bioswale that provides water runoff a place to infiltrate deeper into the ground to help prevent flooding. The plants selected are adapted native plants that thrive in periods of inundation.
This project displays the beauty that can be achieved when transforming small lawn spaces into creative and effective ecosystems by reintroducing native vegetation.
Third Creek Initiative
The Third Creek Initiative began in 2021 as an initial attempt to rethink the space of Third Creek Greenway as a linear park for higher student engagement and improved ecological function. This conceptual design for the greenway allowed students to explore potential partnerships with the TREC outdoor facility and AMBC as a way to revitalize the space and bring in visitors to make the creek more accessible.
UT Arboretum Meadow
Students of the SLD and MLA programs gathered in Fall 2023 to aid in a native meadow planting at the UT Arboretum located in Oak Ridge, TN.
