Nearby Nature Site Tour: A Symphony of Biodiversity

As a part of the USC course, ENST 405: Public Engagement for Nature Conservation, we were tasked with developing a tour of a native planting site on campus to apply our public engagement knowledge to help increase awareness of campus biodiversity and increase

understanding of the overarching environmental benefits of including native plants in urban landscapes. We decided to focus on The Music Complex & John Williams Scoring Stage native planting plot. After gathering data about knowledge gaps about our site, our group created an interactive walking tour with the goal of educating users about the site and the importance of using native plants in campus biodiversity efforts. Using ArcGIS StoryMaps, our self-guided walking tour highlights the native species that currently inhabit the site and provides users with details related to its uses, geography, water usage, bloom season, and other characteristics. Our StoryMap provides a creative and interactive way to increase public engagement with “nearby nature” that is right on USC’s UPC campus, and highlight the native planting plot’s multidimensional benefits.