Kevin Grieser
Aquatic Restoration at the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park and Utilizing the “Planting Pod” Approach in Restoration.
Under the leadership of the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, the former LaSalle Park in Buffalo is being transformed into a world class, dynamic destination that connects the Greater Buffalo region to the Lake Erie waterfront. Now known as Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, it will include redesigned landscapes with native plantings, lighting, enhanced circulation, and improved access to Lake Erie. As the project team’s ecology expert, Biohabitats designed the aquatic restoration habitat features and plantings for the site’s new inlet feature utilizing a “planting pod” approach. This presentation will showcase the restoration components of the project and then shift gears to just upstream on the Buffalo River where Biohabitats first developed their ”planting pod” approach as part of the RiverBend restoration project. Biohabitats has utilized this unique approach to revegetation on dozens of restoration projects with challenging sites as a way to jumpstart the process of succession and provide more habitat than traditional grid plantings.
About Kevin Grieser
Kevin Grieser is a Senior Landscape Ecologist and the leader of Biohabitats’ Great Lakes Bioregion office in Cleveland. With 25 years of experience in restoration ecology, and expertise in both landscape architecture and natural resource management, Kevin brings a unique and valued perspective to his work. The bulk of that work centers around stream and wetland design-build restoration in Ohio. Kevin has shepherded dozens of restoration project to success, from initial assessment, concept development, and analysis, through permitting, design, construction, and monitoring. In all of his work, Kevin champions the use of native vegetation. Kevin has also been heavily involved with restoration and waterfront redevelopment efforts in Buffalo, NY, most notably on the Outer Harbor and Buffalo River. Prior to joining Biohabitats, he developed the New York State DEC’s “Trees for Tribs” initiative while working as the Hudson River Estuary Program’s Riparian Buffer Coordinator. A Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner, Kevin holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Penn State and a MS in Forestry and Natural Resources Management from SUNY ESF.
