Institute at Brown for Environment and Society

Alyssa L. Browning ’15 is a dual concentrator in Environmental Science and Religious Studies interested in the intersection between humans and nature.  She has recently returned from South Africa where she spent the spring semester studying savanna ecology and conservation.  Alyssa hopes to build a career conducting applied research within the paradigm of strategic adaptive management and community-based conservation.  This summer, Alyssa is working in conjunction with Christopher Neill (Brown University EEB, Marine Biological Lab) and Matthew Pelikan (The Nature Conservancy) to evaluate the efficacy of homeowner implemented land restoration on Martha’s Vineyard, MA.  Their evaluation of vegetation structure as well as butterfly and bee abundance and diversity will help inform conservation strategies taken to improve habitat connectivity on the island.