Mike McKinney, professor and head of the UT Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences will present “Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness” at the next UT Science Forum Friday, March 2.
The Knoxville Urban Wilderness (KUW) in Eastern Tennessee is part of a larger global trend of acquiring vacant lands within urban landscapes for their natural habitat and recreation value. At 688 hectares, the KUW is one of the largest urban wilderness areas in the United States, consisting of loosely-connected land parcels with multiple stakeholders including state, county, and city governments and private foundations.
McKinney will use the KUW as a case study to address critical questions of management that arise for most urban wilderness projects globally: What should these areas be managed for, and how should they be managed? How can multiple stakeholders be efficiently organized to pool their resources most effectively?
The UT Science Forum takes place Friday, March 2 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the Thompson-Boling Arena Cafe (located at 1600 Phillip Fulmer Way), Room A.
Guests are encouraged to bring their lunch or purchase it from the arena. Each presentation is followed by a Q&A. The event is free and open to the public.
We have temporary parking passes available for our guests who do not have UT parking passes. An RSVP is required for the pass. To request a pass, please email Amanda Womac.