Lauren Belle Seeks to Connect the Creative and Intellectual Capacity of Universities with the State and Local Level Boots on the Ground

 

Lauren Belle

Sustainability Specialist at M-NCPPC Department of Parks and Recreation

Lauren.Belle@pgparks.com
Lauren Belle’s LinkedIn

Favorite Place

My favorite place in my local community is Patuxent River Park which is part of the Park System I work for. It a stunningly beautiful 7,800 acre park that protects the land’s natural resources and preserves the view shed and character of many historic sites.

If applicable, briefly describe your first interaction with a school-community project and the impact it had on you.

As strange coincidences go, one of my first interactions with a school-community project after high school was invasive plant removal and goose egg agitation at Patuxent River Park while I was in college at University of Maryland. The sense of abundance one experiences while visiting the park is truly special within the state and region. Even though I went on to work at the World Bank and the National Academy of Sciences, the experience and feeling of connection to nature stayed with me. When I eventually made my way in to my current role, I started to work to connect others to our land which is really cool!

What are some of the top priorities you are working on this year?

Our organization’s 5 year sustainability action plan -Blue Green flood control measures along our county’s three rivers and tons of tributaries -An adaptive reuse site turning an old industrial greenhouse complex into a vibrant Sustainability Learning Center -Calculating expected nutrient uptake based upon plant species present in BMPs -Creating a more resilient population by connecting more people to nature

In what ways are you looking to engage, or work with others, either from within the EPIC-Network or in general?

I’m always open to chatting about best and next practice with stormwater, resilience, or generally cool sustainable infrastructure projects.

Why do you think the EPIC-Network is important?

I think that EPIC-N fulfills a vital role in community resilience metrics by bridging academia and public practice/policy. It is so important as we all face more frequent and more intense disasters that we connect the creative and intellectual capacity of our nation’s universities with the state and local level boots on the ground. It offers a unique opportunity to communities to access these capacities to solve real world issues. By the same token, Universities are able to give students a chance to work on real world issues in the classroom.

What are you hoping attendees will take with them after attending your presentation?

I hope that attendees will be able to see some of the practical uses for a university-community partnership and will be able to get excited about the potential for some of their own community issues.