Seed Dispersal Research
Honor Award in Research, Alabama ASLA Fall 2021
As a research assistant under two professors at Auburn, I've participated in two and a half years of seed dispersal and treatment documentation on five circular test plots of grasses and forbs within a demonstration forest owned by the university. Before plot distinction, these patches of land varied in hydrological circumstance, soil type, and sun/shade availability. The seeded meadow plants have adapted at varying rates to the environmental intricacies and changes in management regimes. These plots were seeded in 2019. Since the summer of 2020, I have spent an accumulation of hours out at these plots, documenting their change over time.
According to Department Head and professor David Hill, this process of study is borrowed from Grounded Theory; "First described by Glaser and Strauss in 1967, Grounded Theory seeks to immerse the researcher within the data rather than begin with an overall hypothesis to be proven or disproven."
