Conservation Science

University of Rhode Island (URI) Professor Laura Meyerson has been elected a fellow of the Ecological Society of America for her contributions to ecological research and policy. Meyerson has been studying invasive species since 1995 and has been a leading advocate for addressing invasive species as a national biosecurity issue since joining the URI faculty in 2005.

Switzer Fellow Susannah Lerman, Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, is a co-lead of a partnership with the University of Minnesota that will establish the first urban long-term ecosystem research (LTER) site in the Midwest. Funded by a $7.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP) Long-Term Ecological Research Program will focus on the dynamics of urban nature and the urban social system in the face of rapid environmental and social change.

Community science, the enlisting of volunteers to collect biodiversity data, is now common and widespread. In theory, the benefits of this model are complementary: community science programs produce useful datasets while engaging the public in conservation. However, in practice there may be tradeoffs regarding data quality, economic cost, and public engagement, which are rarely quantified. This paper adds to a growing body of literature that suggests community science can increase scientific literacy and efficiently produce data of similar quality to technicians, particularly for common species.

In November 2020 Maria Jesus discussed her research with Naomi Fraga for the California Botanic Garden. Maria is a graduate student at Claremont Graduate University (at California Botanic Garden) where she is completing a vascular flora of the southern Inyo Mountains. Thanks to a chance encounter with a plant identification course during her undergraduate English studies, Maria abandoned plans to become a librarian and found her way to field botany.

Aram Calhoun has been awarded a Conservation Leadership Award by the Natural Resources Council of Maine for providing her expertise and leadership in the effort to protect Maine's vernal pools, including as a scientific expert supporting our work to stop the CMP corridor project. Aram is a professor at the University of Maine, and her knowledge and dedication have helped ensure protections for our state’s valuable wetlands. Read more

On October 20, Nick Jensen provided testimony before the California State Assembly on the connections between plants, climate change and wildfire. You can watch his testimony starting at timecode 01:02:46 in the video below. He spoke for more than 45 minutes.

Editor's note: The following piece authored by Anna Robuck was first published on The Hill's website.

Five teams from across North America, including Amber Pairis' Climate Science Alliance, have been selected as finalists for the Connectivity Challenge, a $100,000 incentive prize launched by the CSU Salazar Center for North American Conservation late last year. One team will be chosen as the winner following a virtual pitch event on September 16 during the Center’s second annual symposium.

ABSTRACT