Co-Principal Investigator Rebecca Rooney has partnered with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) through Waterloo’s Wetland Laboratory to transform a hydro corridor into an urban park. The Meadoway, a 16-kilometre-long underutilized corridor in Scarborough, Ontario, will become one of Canada’s largest urban linear parks.
As part of the restoration project, Rebecca’s team of students is looking to understand how native plants can help store more carbon in the soil, increasing the overall carbon storage of an urban ecosystem. The research will analyze soil cores from areas restored with native plants over the last 12 years to try to understand how restoration with native vegetation can impact carbon sequestration over time. These efforts could help to combat climate change by mitigating urban climate emissions through a nature-based approach.
Partnerships, such as the one with TRCA, that are mutually beneficial, are critical for turning research into real-world impact.