Recent KNPS Research Grant Recipients

2018 Grant Recipients

Jordan Reding

The 2018 graduate research grant was awarded to Jordan Reding who is currently in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Ohio State University. The award supports his research, “The Effects of Rock-Face Characteristics and Use for Rock-Climbing on Cliff Vegetation Communities of the Red River Gorge, Kentucky”

Calvin Andries

The 2018 undergraduate research grant was awarded to Calvin Andries who is currently in the Department of Biological Sciences at Eastern Kentucky University. The award supports his research, “Vascular Flora and Wetland Assessment of Wetlands in the Red River Gorge Geological Area and Clifty Wilderness in Menifee and Powell Counties of Kentucky.”

2015 Grant Recipients

Glen Kalisz

Mr. Kalisz is a winner of the Fall 2015 graduate research award. He is currently working on his Master’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University. He in his career worked as a research assistant for bobcat telemetry and forest vegetation sampling studies. Mr. Kalisz has received a number of awards and scholarships. He submitted a grant proposal entitled, “Oak-Hickory Forest Regeneration Differences between a Harvested and an Unharvested Watershed in the Knobs Region of Central Kentucky” to KNPS. His work should help shed light on a problem land managers and private land owners face when logging: how to encourage oak/hickory regeneration and discourage regeneration of red maple.

Matthew Savage

Mr. Savage is a winner of the Fall 2015 graduate research award. His currently working on his Master’s degree at the University of Kentucky.  He has in his career helped build a house, and served a group leader for a YCC team and a marking crew at the White River National Wildlife Refuge (AR). He has received a number of awards. Mr. Savage submitted a grant proposal entitled, “Alterations in the Coleopteran Community in Response to Rapid and Widespread Mortality Caused by the Highly Invasive Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae, EAB), in Invaded Forests of North-central Kentucky” to KNPS.  He is expecting to shed light on how beetle communities change in response to catastrophic changes to forest communities. He will also be tracking the fate of ash regeneration.

2014 Grant Recipients

Pavan Podapati

Mr. Podapati is a winner of the 2014 graduate research award. He is currently working on his Master’s degree at the University of Kentucky.  In his career he has volunteered at several Kentucky nature preserves and worked as an intern for KSNPC. Mr. Podapati submitted a grant proposal entitled “The impacts of Imazapic on Garlic Mustard and non-target Forest Floor Vegetation in Central Kentucky’s Hardwood Forests”. His research is investigation the use of imazapic for dormant season control of garlic mustard. There is hope that imazapic could be used to treat garlic mustard at a time when native forest floor vegetation is not likely to be affected.

Heidi Braunreiter

Ms. Braunreiter is a winner of the 2014 graduate research award. She is currently working her Master’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University. She has received a number of grants and awards and has had experience collecting fire effects monitoring data for the Wayne National Forest. She submitted a grant proposal entitled, “A Vascular Flora of Boyle County, Kentucky”, to KNPS. Ms. Braunreiter will be using herbarium specimens collected during field work to document the flora of Boyle County.

2013 Grant Recipients

Alexi Dart-Padover

Mr. Dart-Padover is a winner of the 2013 graduate research award. He is currently working on his Master’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University. In his career, Mr. Dart-Padover has worked to eradicate non-native invasive species, monitored threatened shorebird populations in Florida and worked with bird studies in Peru.  He submitted a grant proposal entitled, “A Comparison of Management Strategies for the Federally Endangered Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) in the Blue Grass Army Depot, KY”, to KNPS. His research is designed to develop management techniques and pathways to help recover running buffalo clover.

Todd Rounsaville

Mr. Rounsaville is a winner of the 2013 graduate research award. He is currently working on his PhD degree at the University of Kentucky. In his career, Mr. Rounsaville has studied horticulture, looking at fertility and reproductive pathways of the invasive grass Miscanthus sinensis, and the ploidy levels and genomic size of Berberis and Mahonia. He has received numerous awards and scholarships. He is currently the native plants curator at the UK Arboretum and has served on the Advisory Board of Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, and the Central Kentucky Ornamental and Turf Association. Mr. Rounsaville submitted a grant proposal entitled “Trends in plant-soil pairwise feedback between Elymus villosus, a native c3 grass, and Euonymus fortunei, an exotic invasive liana”, to KNPS. His research is designed to help land managers develop effective controls for Euonymus fortunei.

2012 Grant Recipients

James Shaffer

Mr. James Shaffer is the winner of the 2012 graduate research award. He is currently working on his Masters degree at the University of Kentucky. In his academic career, Mr. Shaffer has researched water use by chestnut oak and sassafras, comparing plants in clearcuts with those in secondary forests to mortality of redbay by the laurel wilt fungus. He is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and has received numerous assistantships and research grants. Mr. Shaffer submitted a grant proposal entitled, “The Influence of Grass Competition and Herbivory on Native Hardwood Seedling Establishment in the Inner Bluegrass of Kentucky”, to KNPS. His research, currently on-going, is investigating the role of herbivory and grass competition on the establishment and composition of Bluegrass Savanna communities. The research is expected to provide insight to future establishment and maintenance of these communities.

Victoria Gilkison

Ms. Victoria (Torey) Gilkison is the winner of the 2012 undergraduate research award. She is currently a junior at Western Kentucky University in the Biology program. In the last 3 years she has presented six papers or posters with topics ranging from American Ginseng Conservation to Stable Isotope Analysis of the Upper Green River in Hart County, Kentucky. She has received research presentation awards in each of the last two years from WKU. Ms. Gilkison submitted a grant proposal entitled, “Comparisons of Genetic Diversity among Disjunct Populations of Magnolia tripetala”, to KNPS. Her research intends to investigate genetic diversity and look gene flow among core and outlying populations of umbrella magnolia. She expects that this work will help answer questions related to the conservation of outlying populations of this and other species.