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A graduate student at Texas A&M has been awarded an Ann Miller Gonzalez Research Grant to study the effects of environmental changes on native grasses in Edwards Plateau rangelands.
This summer, Nicole Havrilchak will initiate research at three ranches on the Edwards Plateau across a precipitation gradient. Her work will focus on the physiology of native C4 grasses of rangeland ecosystems and how these grasses might respond to future environmental change such as woody encroachment and changes in precipitation and temperature. Of particular interest to Nicole is the leaf-level photosynthetic functioning of these native grasses in response to prolonged droughts and more intense rain events. She hopes this research will help landowners and conservationists implement plans for sustaining rangeland ecosystems and preserving native grass composition.
Each year, the Native Plant Society of Texas awards the Ann Miller Gonzalez Research Grant to a Texas graduate student to support its mission to promote research, conservation and utilization of native plants and plant habitats of Texas.
This year’s winner of the $2500 grant is a first-year PhD student in the Ecosystem Science and Management Department at Texas A&M University, College Station. A native of Pennsylvania, Nicole previously received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she studied woody encroachment and the performance of native grasses of the Mid-Atlantic serpentine barrens.
Nicole’s proposed research certainly aligns with a vision of a future where native habitats are managed as critically beneficial natural assets, and we look forward to hearing her speak about her research at our fall symposium in League City.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: kimberkaushik
