Volunteer opportunities will be available to the UH community throughout the spring semester to help maintain and improve Shasta’s Prairie, beginning with a weeding and seeding event on Friday, Feb. 17.

The Feb. 17 weeding and seeding volunteer event will be from noon to 2 p.m. Volunteers will help maintain the pocket prairie by removing invasive grasses and replenishing the prairie with native flowers. Those interested in participating may RSVP on the Office of Sustainability’s Facebook page or by emailing sustainability@uh.edu. Though RSVP is preferred, it is not required to volunteer.

Located at the green space between the Science & Engineering Classroom building, Science and Research and the UH Science Center, Shasta’s Prairie offers visitors a glimpse of the coastal tallgrass prairie that thrives at the UH Coastal Center. It also serves as a living laboratory for biology and ecology students to study native Texas plants and pollinators. It was established on May 7, 2016, in partnership with Katy Prairie Conservancy. 

Since its establishment last year, Shasta’s Prairie has seen a tremendous growth of plant species, including bushmint, the blue mistflower and native sunflowers. The prairie has also become a stopping point for the monarch butterfly. During their annual fall migration, monarch butterflies cover thousands of miles from the northern and central United States, and southern Canada, to Florida and Mexico. The iconic butterfly is a well-known pollinator species. 

Two more Shasta’s Prairie volunteer events are being planned for March and April. To stay up to date on volunteer events at Shasta’s Prairie, the Campus Community Garden and other Office of Sustainability events, visit frequently the calendar of events page at the Office of Sustainability website.