r/Restoration_Ecology

So this is a really specific question and I know the answer will be "it depends" but...

I'm drafting emails for grad school restoration labs. I strongly feel that restoration is political, specifically in the area I'd like to work in where industry was allowed to do whatever it wanted and now people are suffering the environmental impacts with little to no government assistance. I'm also getting an anthropology minor so my caring about the people and cultural side of restoration shows in my degree. I don't want to come off too strong, but I do want to come off as passionate and informed! Where's the balance?

So the title speaks for itself. Basically I am an undergrad, about to get my degree in conservation biology with a minor in ecology. I personally am obsessed with native plants, agroecology, restoration, and land management. Basically nature based solutions and ecosystem services!

I am currently working on my own native plant garden in my backyard. Right now I have about 10-15 different species. I’m a huge advocate for native plants. I did an internship at a native plant nursery an hr away from me and it really opened my eyes and helped me realize how important and vital these sort of nurseries are. Let’s just say, people traveled over 12 hrs and jumped 2 states just to get plants there (borderlands nursery and seed), because they were the only ones that carried and sold that plant. This really stuck out to me.

In my area alone, within an hr of me I probably have roughly at least 5 nurseries I could go to to get native plants to my region. Even more if you include the ones that focus on cacti. (I live in Arizona)

If I had the money and the means, my goal would be to open my own NGO and start a native plant nursery. So my question is, how easy is it for you to find native plants for your region? What regions and states do you think need more native plant nurseries?

Although all my knowledge is mainly focused on the madrean sky island type biomes, desert scrub, pinyon pines and juniper, grasslands, I have a love for woodlands and forests. I particularly have an obsession with milkweed!. For good reason obviously, need to support the butterflies.

I have 3 species of milkweed currently growing and have given out babies to my professors and family for Christmas. I took an environmental biology class and did a project on native and invasive species. I hope to be able to support native plants and the removal in invasives in my future.

Sorry for the long post, just really passionate and trying to take multiple things into consideration. I’ve lived in az my whole life so figured Reddit would be a good place to ask. Currently want to potentially go to grad school but that’s a separate conversation lol. I have roughly 4-5 schools in mind and wanted to focus on plants and ecosystem interactions.

Currently working on an independent research project for fun with a professor and going to see if glyphosate impacts saguaro seedlings and germination. This is going to be vital since they use glyphosate on buffelgrass, which likes to live in th same location as the saguaros. So next year I can’t wait to share my results!

A huge thanks to those of you in this forum who answered all my questions months ago as I was trying to figure out how to set all this up. In this article, I lay out all the gear I used, why I picked it, and how much it cost. It's Part 2 of a multi-part series about this system. There are links at the beginning and end of the article if you want to read it all, but figured this group might be most interested in the "how" of it all. I'll come back in a couple months with a follow up on what I get back and how I process all the data using free AI tools.

If I want to scrape a vernal pool in former pasture that has hydric soils and would have historically been wetland, is this subject to any regulations if it has never been delineated as wetland and has been in agricultural use for many decades? USA.

Every month the Center for Tropical Restoration Science (CTRS) hosts a free webinar with expert speakers on a subject related to conservation and/or restoration ecology. These virtual sessions are aimed at restoration practitioners, students and likeminded individuals who are looking to deepen their expertise and knowledge in restoration science as well as share their experiences and local knowledge with others.

CTRS is based in Costa Rica and is a project by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS). CTRS serves the tropics worldwide.

Webinars are held both in Spanish and English.

The next webinar will be held on May 27th, 2026 at 10am CST and will be in Spanish. The topic is science communication strategies to engage audiences and drive research toward impactful outcomes.

Instagram: @tropicalrestorationscience