Education

• Ph.D. 1990 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
• B.A. 1983 Biology, Grinnell College
  

Teaching Interests

Ecology

Conservation Biology

Environment, Technology and Society

Courses in Ecosystem Management graduate program

Development of ecology labs suitable for high school instruction

Research Interests

I have two main areas of research under the umbrella of conservation biology: restoration ecology and sustainable agriculture

Restoration ecology. Since 1998, I have worked with UNI students and staff of the Native Roadside Vegetation Center to understand the process of seedling establishment in mature stands of native, warm season grasses. Experiments demonstrated that overseeding followed by mowing can increase forb diversity and abundance. We are now beginning to study the requirements for germination of spring-flowering species and whether they can be successfully added using overseeding and mowing techniques. Recent investigations (2005-2007) reveal that seed predators such as rodents and ants may remove 95-99% of all broadcast seeds before they have a chance to become incorporated into the soil. Graduate student Craig Hemsath has tested whether this can be reduced by the use of feeding deterrents or supplemental food; a manuscript is in progress.

Sustainable Agriculture. In 2002 Dana Jackson and I published an edited volume, The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems to explore how farmers can incorporate greater native biological diversity into into their agricultural production systems. I have collaborated with farmers in northeast Iowa who are introducing native, warmseason grass pasture into their rotational grazing systems. We are also interested in addition of native plants to add diversity, value and sustained productivity to these pastures.

Professional Accomplishments

Selected Publications

Jackson, L. L. 2008. Who designs the agricultural landscape? Landscape Journal 27:23-40.  Special issue on Metropolitan Ecology.

Williams, D.W., L. L. Jackson and D. D. Smith. 2007. Effects of frequent mowing on survival and persistence of forbs seeded into a species-poor grassland. Restoration Ecology 50:24-33.

Jackson, L. L., D. Keeney and E. Gilbert. 2000. Swine manure management plans in North-Central Iowa: nutrient loading and policy implications. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 55:205-212

Jackson, L. L. and P. W. Comus. 1999. Ecological consequences of agricultural development in a Sonoran Desert Valley. In R. H. Robichaux, ed. Ecology and Conservation of Sonoran Desert Plants: A tribute to the Desert Laboratory. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Jackson, L. L. 1999. Establishing tallgrass prairie species on a rotationally grazed permanent pasture in the Upper Midwest: remnant plant assessment and seeding and grazing regimes. Restoration Ecology 7: 127-138.

Jackson, L. L., N. Lopoukhine, and D. Hillyard. 1995. Ecological restoration: A definition and comments. Restoration Ecology 3:71-75.

Jackson, L. L. and C. L. Dewald. 1994. Predicting evolutionary consequences of greater reproductive effort in Tripsacum dactyloides, a perennial grass. Ecology 75: 627-641.

Responsibilities

Advisor, Professional Science Masters in Ecosystem Management

UNI Preserves Committee (Chair)

Student Outcomes Assessment Committee

Advisory Board, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

International Experience

2003 Lecture, Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Organization (Australia)in Canberra

2003 Symposium presentation, Ecological Society of Australia Annual Meeting, Armidale, New South Wales.

Grants History

2009-2010 Living Roadway Trust Fund grant to develop a display of prairie roots.

2007-2020. Black Hawk County Conservation Board, Graduate Research Assistant support for Professional Science Masters in Ecosystem Management, $8700

2006-2009. USDA-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Grant in collaboration with Dr. Jerry Glover, The Land Institute. "Pasture-wheat intercropping." $150,000

1999- 2007 Living Roadway Trust Fund, Iowa Department of Transportation. Four grants totalling $90,000 to study prairie restoration techniques

1999    Risk assessment of manure management systems (with ISU Ag Engineering; $7,500)

1998-2001    USDA-Fund for Rural America  "Large Scale Swine Production and Water Quality" (with ISU and U of I; $66,000)
1997-1998    USDA SARE Producer Initiated Grant: "Non-chemical methods of Quackgrass control" (with Tom Frantzen; $10,000)

1995    Carver Scientific Research Grant: "Testing soil nitrogen impoverishment for control of Bromus inermis in pasture and prairie establishment "($11,500)

1995-1998    Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture:  "Incorporating Native Plant Communities on Farms for Forage and Wildlife" ($60,000)

Languages French

Community Engagement

Graduate student advisor, Professional Science Masters in Ecosystem Management. The program partners with a variety of clients and these projects will vary from year to year. Since 2007, students have  worked with Black Hawk County Conservation Board to create a natural resource inventory and management plan for BHCCB natural areas. A second client is Hartman Reserve Nature Center. Students developed a watershed assessment of small watersheds feeding into Hartman Bluff State Preserve, and applied for a Community Foundation gran  to restore watershed health. Service learning is intrinsic to two core courses, Advanced Analytical Techniques and Team Problem Solving.

RAISE mentor to two local high school science teachers.

State Preserves Advisory Board, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 2001-2007; chair during 2006-2007.

Practical Farmers of Iowa. Participated in field days and presented at annual meeting on several occasions, on prairie restoration and warm-season grasses for pasture. Involved several students.

County and state policymakers: Gave public testimony and briefed public officials on the scientific consensus concerning the effects of climate change on Iowa as summarized by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Iowa Farmers Union, 2006. Presentation on the scientific consensus concerning the effects of climate change on Iowa agriculture as summarized by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Skills and Competencies

• Curriculum Development
• Grant Preparation
• Statistical Analysis

This page on Biology Department Website...

I am Laura L Jackson; I want to make changes to the above information...