Teaching through doing: Riparian restoration and wildlife habitat enhancement projects as educational tools

A pharmaceutical research and development campus in central New Jersey implements best management practices (BMP) for campus watershed and wildlife management as an opportunity to increase employee environmental awareness.  The campus, a 433-acre mosaic of natural and developed land, provides a familiar environment for employees to learn about the environment.  Various projects to promote interactive learning associated with campus BMP include: riparian restoration, nesting box sponsorship, annual wildlife inventories, wildlife photo contests, EarthDay activities, and nature trail development.  Implementation of these projects requires various degrees of employee participation, but all share the basic concept of interactive learning.  Interactive learning projects have been implemented on the campus for 6 years and have expanded to other associated campuses.  The projects also provide opportunities for community outreach in the form of informational posters, brochures, exhibits, and presentations, several of which have been conducted in conjunction with local grass-roots organizations.  Individual project effectiveness is qualitatively interpreted by evaluating items, such as employee efforts leading to participation and certification in wildlife habitat certification programs, participation in photo contests and EarthDay activities, and turnout for restoration planting and wildlife monitoring events.  This information is used to identify effective educational projects and look for opportunities for improvement.