Conservation & Ecological RestorationAudrey Bowe
2020 The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration

Understanding the Impact of Invasive Jumping Worms on the Threatened American Hart’s- Tongue Fern and Implications for Restoration
Audrey Bowe is a master’s student in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University. She is working with New York State Parks to understand the impact of invasive jumping worms on the federally threatened American hart’s- tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum). She will conduct greenhouse experiments to investigate direct and indirect impacts of jumping worms on fern gametophytes as well as field sampling wild populations to understand the extent of earthworm invasion. The combined results will be used to inform and assess restoration potential for this species in the context of earthworm invasion.
The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
The Garden Club of America (the GCA) offers an annual Fellowship in Ecological Restoration. Established in 2000 with funds from the John B. Young Charitable Trust as well as GCA members and clubs, the fellowship’s goal is to support research that will advance knowledge and increase the number of scientists in the important field of ecological restoration, the active healing of the land. The $8,000 grant is awarded annually to exceptional graduate students to support specialized study in ecological restoration at an accredited U.S. university. Preference will be given to projects that include field research conducted in the United States. A panel of experts associated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum reviews the applications and makes recommendations to the GCA Scholarship Committee.
For the purposes of this scholarship, The Garden Club of America agrees to the definition of ecological restoration as stated by the Society of Ecological Restoration (SER).