University of Houston
IN-3: Innovation 3

University of Houston Coastal Center (UHCC) is an environmental research and educational center about 14 miles northwest of the Gulf Coast, which contains about 300 acres of threatened coastal tallgrass prairie. Acquired in the 1960's the UHCC aims to support environmental research on the Texas coast by providing researchers with access to field sites, equipment and facilities. Facilities include two micrometeorology towers, a greenhouse, a laboratory building, and a maintenance building. The UHCC also seeks to broaden public awareness about science and the environment by supporting outreach activities with public groups and educational organizations. Prior to World War II, the UHCC area was dominated by tall-grass prairie. In the 1940s, the area was used as Camp Wallace, resulting in human disturbance to portions of the prairie and the introduction of non-native species. Current land management goals include maintaining the areas of pristine prairie and restoring areas invaded by invasive species or disturbed by human activity. While much of the above can be considered impactful to sustainability, an ongoing innovative effort coming from the center is a seed distribution program, detailed below.

As a community service and ecological commitment, UH allows the seeds from the pristine patches of the Coastal Center to be harvested by the Native American Seed company and other groups, which are then made available to organizations and individuals engaged in prairie restoration and native plant projects all across the country. Given the highly-endangered habitat, with less than 0.1% remaining worldwide, the preservation and reintroduction of these seeds is vital to preserving this unique ecosystem and biodiversity. In addition to the Native American Seed company, which sells the rare seed commercially (20% of the earnings go back to the coastal center), some seeds are also collected by Texas Master Naturalists to grow mature plants. These adult plants are used in local restoration projects. Finally, some seeds are also sent to the Katy Prairie Conservatory's (a separate conservation agency) "Great Grow Out", which is a program where community volunteers of all ages grow prairie plants for use in restoration projects.

Coastal Center Main Page: http://www.eih.uh.edu// Native American Seed Company Webpage: http://www.seedsource.com/Default.asp Katy Prairie Conservancy Webpage: http://www.katyprairie.org/