UW Native Food Ecosystem

We submit this letter of intent on behalf of the students, staff, and faculty managing the Burke Meadow at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, along with related collaborations at the UW Farm and the Burke Herbarium. Our work has been supported by the Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF #16-4546), Urban@UW, the Department of Landscape Architecture, the Burke Museum, and the Mellon Foundation. 

Initially focused on plant community monitoring, maintenance, public work parties, and communications at the Burke Meadow, the project has expanded to include educational programming for UW courses and the public, arts-based collaborations, and integration with other campus initiatives such as the UW Farm Native Garden, Wapato Pond, and seed propagation in the horticultural greenhouses. 

What began as a partnership between the Burke Museum, the College of Built Environments, and UW Grounds now involves students and faculty from Arts & Sciences, the College of the Environment, and UW Farm. More than a dozen students have participated as hires or consistent volunteers, and we have logged over 1,500 public/student volunteer hours in maintenance and planting over the years. Project members have presented at more than ten conferences and numerous courses. 

This initiative continues to demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, producing benefits for the UW community, professional networks, and the public, guided by collective management and a shared commitment among partners. As our work has grown across campus, we have come to identify the team and its work as the Native Food Ecosystem (NFE) at UW. 

Renewed CSF funding will empower students to connect culture to land stewardship, develop environmental and cultural research skills, and host Indigenous cultural keepers as speakers and mentors. Our proposal sustains current paid student positions, creates new paid opportunities, supports (re)design of Indigenous cultural spaces on campus, and establishes a Native American advisory body to guide our future work. 

Sustainable Impact 

The 10,000-ft² Burke Meadow, created during the Burke Museum redevelopment, is a rare landscape type on campus. Once common in the region, camas meadows have largely disappeared due to agriculture and urban development, though Camassia spp. remains a vital food source with deep cultural significance to Indigenous communities across the Pacific Northwest. 

The Meadow serves as the home base for the NFE. Located near a major campus entrance and the University District light rail station, it is visible to an estimated 25,000 students and employees daily. As part of the Burke’s living collections, the Meadow supports learning beyond the classroom and demonstrates how designed landscapes can connect ecological, cultural, and educational goals. 

Because the Meadow requires specialized maintenance, UW Grounds initially expressed concern about its care. Our team has developed tailored management methods through an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural approach that ensures its continued health and educational value. 

Collaborations with the Intellectual House and UW Farm have expanded our reach. At the UW Farm’s CUH location, we now steward both regionally specific cultural foods and Pan-Indian foodways through the Wapato Pond and Native Garden. Broader campus collaborations extend our sustainable impact through shared intellectual, material, and cultural resources. 

Leadership & Student Involvement 

Project oversight is coordinated by Polly Olsen, Steve Kryszko, and Ken Yocom, while students lead most weekly activities, including data collection, analysis, land stewardship, maintenance, event planning, and coordination with partners. Currently, five students (two graduate and three undergraduate) are employed hourly, each leading a specific project while supporting others. A student mentorship program enhances learning and organizational resilience. 

Renewed CSF funding will enable two new stipend-based student positions and three stipend-based community cultural knowledge keeper positions. Together, these five roles will form a new advisory body facilitated by current team members. With approval of a 2025–2026 CSF Large Grant, the student roster would include seven paid students in the next academic year. 

Education, Outreach, & Behavior Change 

Education remains central to the project. CSF- and Mellon-supported students gain experience in project management, fieldwork, data analysis, and volunteer coordination. The team’s pedagogy emphasizes knowledge integration, interweaving Indigenous knowledge, Western science, and the creative arts. Faculty and students share this interdisciplinary approach through presentations to Burke patrons, UW classes, and professional conferences. 

Regular volunteer work parties focus on meadow maintenance, drawing UW students and community members who have contributed hundreds of volunteer hours. Plants are sourced from local native nurseries such as Oxbow Farms and the Pacific Rim Institute. For four years, Oxbow staff have joined the team each autumn for a day-long maintenance event. To address rabbit grazing that reduces camas productivity, the team hosts annual workshops where local elders and master weavers teach students and volunteers to weave willow and alder branch baskets to “protect our food.” These handmade baskets are installed in the Meadow before each growing season. In winter 2024, the team conducted the first approved cultural burn on UW campus, introducing students and community members to traditional Indigenous land management while reinvigorating the Meadow soils for future growth. 

As the project expands, we have identified the need for an advisory body to guide priorities and activities. Early discussions propose a council of three Native American Elders, one graduate student, and one undergraduate student, supported by two student administrative assistants and coordinated by team lead Polly Olsen. This advisory body will guide the entire NFE, encompassing both the Burke Meadow and UW Farm sites. By bringing Elders together with students, faculty, and staff, we aim to sustain Indigenous food knowledge and ensure that students continue to carry this learning forward through campus stewardship. 

Feasibility & Accountability 

Rooted in interdisciplinary, cross-cultural land stewardship, the NFE engages active campus and community participants deeply committed to strengthening environmental and cultural connections in an urban context. Volunteers and paid members alike have developed strong attachments to the Meadow and UW Farm projects, reflected in consistent engagement and continuity of effort. 

Previous CSF funds have primarily supported student work and learning, with additional funds used to purchase supplemental plants. The Burke Museum and Department of Landscape Architecture have contributed funds for tools, gloves, and volunteer event supplies, while UW Grounds provides labor, truck access, and debris removal. With recurring volunteers, institutional funding, and logistical support from UW Grounds and UW Farm, the project maintains a robust network of accountability and investment across the University. 

Over the past two years, the NFE has been supported by CSF and a Mellon Foundation grant, which enabled growth in activities, participation, and campus impact. As the Mellon grant concludes in the coming year, renewed CSF funding will sustain current paid student positions, establish the advisory body, and maintain project momentum until future external funds are secured. Continued CSF investment will ensure that the NFE remains a living example of how Indigenous ecological knowledge, community collaboration, and student leadership can guide sustainable land stewardship on the UW campus and beyond.