Society for Conservation Biology Newsletter
Volume 17, Issue 2
May 2010
2010 Smith Conservation Fellows Announced
The Society for Conservation Biology and the Cedar Tree Foundation announce the recipients of the
2010 David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship. The Smith Fellowship, the nation’s premier post
doctoral program in conservation biology, seeks to find solutions to the most pressing conservation chal-
lenges in the United States. Each Fellow’s research is conducted in partnership with a major academic
institution and “on the ground” conservation organization to help bridge the gap between theory and
application. The following fellowship recipients were selected on January 12 from a pool of highly
qualified recent Ph D’s from around the world:
Clare Aslan will complete a project titled, “Dissecting taxon substitution: Can nonnative mutualists rescue
native species from extinction?” under the academic mentorship of Dr. Erika Zavaleta at the University of
California, Santa Cruz and in partnership with Dr. Robert Robichaux of the Hawaiian Silversword
Foundation.
Keryn Gedan will complete a project titled, “Ecosystem services provided by shellfish: Improving water
quality in nutrient-polluted estuaries” under the academic mentorship of Dr. Denise Breitburg at the
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and in partnership with Dr. Rob Brumbaugh of The Nature
Conservancy.
Liana Joseph will complete a project titled, “Implications for farming as a conservation tool: Consumer
preference for the wild” under the academic mentorship of Dr. Franck Courchamp at the Université Paris
Sud and in partnership with Dr. Kent Redford of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Benjamin Sikes will complete a project titled, “Utilizing natural soil biotic communities to enhance
ecosystem resilience and recovery” under the academic mentorship of Dr. Christine Hawkes at the
University of Texas at Austin and working in partnership with Dr. Doria Gordon of The Nature
Conservancy
and Dr. Eric Menges of Archbold Biological Station.
While the Fellows’ research projects focus on urgent conservation issues, they also learn first hand about
the challenges and rewards of conservation applications. The program’s focus is to enlarge their profes-
sional opportunities and ensure future success by helping them build relationships in the conservation
and research communities and by providing opportunities for professional development through targeted
workshops and training events.
The late Dr. David H. Smith, founder of the Cedar Tree Foundation, was a pediatrician, inventor and
conservationist. He established the Smith Fellowship in 1998 with a grant to The Nature Conservancy. In
2005 the Fellowship was broadened to include the broader conservation community and is now
administered by the Society for Conservation Biology. The Smith Fellowship seeks to identify and support
early-career scientists who will shape the growth of applied conservation biology. Request for proposals
for the 2011 Class of Smith Fellows will be announced in June 2010. For more information see the Smith
Fellows website at www.SmithFellows.org. For more information contact: Shonda Foster at 202-234-4133
ext.101.
