Student Projects

Prairie Acre Ribbon Classroom

The Prairie Acre Ribbon Classroom was created by students of Paola Sanguinetti’s Architecture 509 Design and Build Studio during the spring of 2018. The students were tasked with developing an outdoor classroom for the KU Center for Sustainability that complements Prairie Acre, supports the Environmental Studies Program, and facilitates educational and recreational use of the prairie. On May 9, 2018, the class unveiled their semester project.

The classroom is located on the northeast side of Prairie Acre. The space caters to both group and individual study and is open to all students, staff, faculty, and visitors to campus. The site can be accessed from stairs at the corner of Sunnyside Avenue and Sunflower Road, or from the walkway off Lilac Lane. An accessible route is available from Parking Lot 10, south of Watson Library.

Ribbon Classroom ProjectView as gallery page

Additional Projects

The KU Environmental Studies Program has been a huge part of the Prairie Acre Restoration Project. Professors Dr. Robert Hagen and Dr. Kelly Kindscher have made it a priority to incorporate Prairie Acre into the EVRN Field Ecology and Capstone courses. Listed below are some of the finished products students have produced from those classes, along with site plan concepts developed by students in the Urban Planning Program. The EVRN Field Ecology class has produced a running database of information collected from Prairie Acre. If you're interested in seeing this data, please contact Dr. Robert Hagen and/or Dr. Kelly Kindscher.

As the restoration project continues, it is our hope that more and more instructors work on incorporating the prairie into their curriculum.

EVRN 615: Capstone Project, Spring 2017

  • Seed Bank
  • Management
  • Prairie Outreach and Education
  • Pollinators
  • Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi
  • Triangle Expansion

UBPL 735: Site Planning and Design, Spring 2017

  • Prairie Acre Site Plan Concepts

EVRN 615: Capstone Project, Spring 2016

  • Signage Plan
  • Prairies and Policy
  • Future Site Design
  • Field Guide

EVRN 460: Field Ecology, Summer 2015
EVRN 172: Kansas Landscape Projects, Summer 2015

  • Prairie Acre Vegetation Survey Report 2015

EVRN 615: Capstone Project, Spring 2014

  • Prairie Acre Restoration Plan

EVRN 615: Capstone Project, Spring 2012

  • Native Landscaping at KU