Ecological Restoration

Galatwitsch (U. of Minnesota) presents the first textbook devoted entirely to ecological dimensions of environmental restoration. Students come to the field from many different disciplines, so she begins with the basics. Her focus is practical, so she describes techniques that have been shown to work in the field, rather than theoretical ones no matter how cool, and uses real-world cases as examples. The chapters on the process of restoration and approaches to it include diagnosis and goal setting, social and institutional support, monitoring and evaluation, soil and water quality, and vertebrates. Among the cases are Alaska's North Slope, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and South Africa's Namaqualand Restoration Initiative. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Susan M. Galatowitsch is a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Minnesota, where she has taught courses in restoration ecology, landscape ecology, horticultural science, and conservation biology. She also taught restoration ecology at the University of Cape Town while a Fulbright Fellow. Dr. Galatowitsch earned a B.A. in Environmental Biology from St. Mary's College-Minnesota, an M.S. in Botany from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Iowa State University. Her research focuses on revegetation, management of invasive species, and climate change adaptation for wetland and riparian ecosystems. In addition to many research publications, she published the book Restoring Prairie Wetlands: An Ecological Approach (with Arnold van der Valk).