SFS Spring 2007 CRS student awarded Distinguished Student Researcher Award for work on predicted rainforest response to climate change.

December 2007

Salem, MA - SFS student, Mr. Roger Shaw, of Swarthmore College, PA, has been awarded the SFS Distinguished Student Researcher Award for Spring semester 2007. Roger developed and carried out an exceptional field research project for his SFS Directed Research project, “Plant functional trait correlations as indicators of drought resistance strategies in trees of the Australian rainforests,” conducted at the Centre for Rainforest Studies in North Queensland, Australia. Roger's final report was a comprehensive and scholarly treatment of an important issue in ecology that has relevance to both basic and applied aspects of the field, particularly in relation to predicting the likely effects of future climate change on tropical rainforests.

Building on his understanding of disturbance and climate change from classroom and field lectures and field exercises in the SFS core courses during the program, Roger developed a testable hypothesis and rigorous research design to examine the utility of plant functional traits in predicting plant response to changing environments, specifically locally drying conditions. Dr Timothy Curran, SFS Resident Lecturer in Resource Management at the Australian center and Roger's research advisor, stated that Roger generated “a novel idea regarding the causative relationship between two drought resistance traits, one associated with leaf function (specific leaf area) and the other associated with plant hydraulic function (wood density).” Dr Curran added that ”While broadly similar studies have been conducted elsewhere in the world, this is the first time that such an approach has been used to predict changes to the critically endangered Australian tropical rainforests under predicted decreased rainfall scenarios.”

Dr Will Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Ecology at James Cook University, a guest at the community presentation session of student research that semester, stated that Roger's was the best student presentation he had ever seen, including graduate students, in an academic career spanning 10 years.

The Distinguished Student Researcher Award is given to an outstanding SFS semester student who has demonstrated exceptional skills in field research, including writing and presentation of research results. Students receiving the award have made important contributions to their field of research and to the SFS Center's five year research plan, and have demonstrated leadership in working with a team of student and faculty researchers.