(SW PA Water Network (all)) Waterway Benefits Study Webinar – Jan. 25

This case study webinar may be of interest to some as we work to capture the hard to quantify but obvious cultural benefits of our rivers and streams.  Here is a link to the project website.

Links to register for the webinar are in the description below:

Interagency Ecological Restoration Quality Committee (IERQC) Monthly Webinar Series


Thursday, January 25, 2024 – 11am to 12pm ET

Presentation: Cultural ecosystem services: A case study in the St. Louis Estuary

Molly Wick, PhD Candidate, University of Minnesota Duluth

About the Presentation
This presentation will provide an overview of the Waterway Benefits Study, a study of cultural ecosystem services (CES, or the intangible benefits people experience from Great Lakes ecosystems) associated with aquatic resources in communities on the St. Louis River estuary of Lake Superior. The primary goal of this study was to apply mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how sociodemographics and beneficiary identity influence CES delivery and barriers to delivery. These data can help environmental decision-makers identify actions to mitigate barriers to and increase equitable delivery of CES.

About the Presenter
Molly Wick is a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a student trainee at EPA studying human wellbeing benefits associated with aquatic resources in the Great Lakes. She relies on mixed methods to study cultural ecosystem services, including how the experience of these services can vary with sociodemographic groups and how CES assessments can inform interventions to improve the quality, quantity, and equity of well-being benefits in a community. Molly has experience in ecological assessments and habitat restoration, including management of habitat restoration projects in the St. Louis River Area of Concern for the Wisconsin DNR. Molly holds MS degrees in Earth and Planetary Science (University of New Mexico) and Water Resource Science (University of Minnesota Duluth). In 2020, Molly was awarded a Margaret Davidson Fellowship through the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve.

About the Series
The Interagency Ecological Restoration Quality Committee (IERQC) hosts monthly webinars in an effort to bring restoration practitioners from across the country together to present and discuss the innovations aimed at improving the quality of ecological restoration information. Presentations are approximately 45 minutes in length, followed by open discussion.

About the Committee
In June 2012 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) established the IERQC, with members representing federal, tribal, and non-governmental organizations, to share and develop quality practices that facilitate collection of reliable information for ecological restoration projects funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The IERQC webinar series supports this collaborative effort. For any questions about the Committee or webinar series, please contact GLNPO’s Quality Manager Louis Blume or IERQC Co-chairs Dr. Timothy Lewisand Dr. Craig Palmer.
Study