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IFCAE Project:

 Urban Foraging







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Timeframe:  2008-2012
Project Lead:   Melissa Poe, Rebecca McLain
Research Assistant: Lauren Urgenson
Administration: Institute for Culture and Ecology
Core Planning Team:


 Susan Charnley, U.S. Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Marla Emery, U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station
Patrick Hurley, Ursinus College
Rebecca McLain, Institute for Culture and Ecology
Melissa Poe, Institute for Culture and Ecology
Additional Collaborators:

Current:
Nate Gabriel (Rutgers University), Laura Brody (Ursinus College), Lindsay Campbell (U.S. Forest Service, New York City Field Station), 
Bryant Smith, (U.S. Forest Service, New York City Field Station), Erika Svendsen (U.S. Forest Service, New York City Field Station), Diane Besser (Institute for Culture and Ecology), Kate McFarland (University of Oregon), and Joyce LeCompte-Mastenbrook (University of Washington)

Past:
Elizabeth Barron (Rutgers University), Lita Buttolph (Institute for Culture and Ecology), Jamie Hebert (Institute for Culture and Ecology), Jenna Tilt (Independent consultant)
Funding: USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station, Northern Research Station, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
   
 
Project Overview
Widespread and massive tree planting campaigns are underway in cities around the United States, aiming to dramatically increase the area of urban forests, raising the fundamental question, “What tree species will be planted and toward what benefit?"

Many positive effects of urban trees are well documented and include lowered summer temperatures, slowed storm water runoff, reduced human stress, and higher property values. However, urban vegetation also can provide direct material benefits to city dwellers in the form of food, medicines, and other plant and fungal products.

This collaborative and comparative study expands knowledge of how people interact with urban nature and the implications of those interactions for social and ecological resiliency of cities. Specifically, this study will document the socio-cultural, spatial and institutional characteristics of diverse gathering and foraging practices in urban ecosystems of Seattle, New York City, and Philadelphia and will investigate how gathering and foraging practices fit within contemporary urban ecosystem management and stewardship activities.

Expanding the understanding of urban ecosystem complexity, including the human dynamics and political-ecological legacies therein, will broaden ecological theory and enable more effective and adaptive management to support food security, maintain social and cultural traditions, and strengthen connections between people and the urban forest.

Our urban foraging study emerged as a collaborative effort by researchers across the country interested in developing a framework for studying foraging practices in the United States. Joint funding to develop this project came from the Northern and Pacific Northwest Research Stations.