Conservation & Ecological RestorationErika Hansen
2025 The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
Use of Fiddler Crab Burrow Mimics to Incresease Spartina Alterniflora Cover and Improve Restoration Outcomes in Mid Atlantic Tidal Marshes
Fiddler crabs are important ecosystem engineers in tidal marshes. Burrow mimics will be constructed to recreate the positive impacts of fiddler crabs on marsh vegetation coverage. Increasing marsh plant productivity and cover is critical to maximizing tidal marsh restoration outcomes and sustaining the protective ecosystem services of tidal marshes.
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).