Conservation & Ecological RestorationIsabel de Silva
2021 The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
Testing Temporal Insurance Effects and the Role of Niche Complementarity in an Experimental, Hydrologically-variable Invaded Riparian Plant Community
De Silva studies riparian restoration from a plant community and ecophysiological perspective. Her project utilizes an experimental riparian plant community to assess how using non-conventional planting mixes in restoration might promote sustained ecosystem functioning across environmental variability, testing whether variable species responses across environmental conditions help to stabilize the overall function of the system. She also is assessing whether this approach helps ward off invaders by including species with complementary resource-use strategies.
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).