myWATERSHED : A Sandbox Game for Connecting and Accelerating Sustainability Stewards of the Future

Abstract

Restoration ecology courses stress that students learn knowledge and leadership skills necessary to successfully restore degraded regions. Yet traditional classrooms offer limited opportunities to plan and implement restoration. To train and empower youth to take on the challenge of ecological restoration and reconnect with nature, the myWATERSHED sandbox game will create a digital twin of the Great Lakes that allows learners to engage in restoration using a simulated endangered species restoration effort. The myWATERSHED game offers users a unique opportunity to take ownership of restoration solutions through real-world data and take this knowledge further by challenging them to make management decisions in a highly realistic simulated environment.