“Kudos to these ten outstanding graduate students and scientists in training,” said ESA President Stephanie Hampton. “Their dedication to science policy is essential for bridging research and decision-making. By engaging with policymakers, they will help ensure that ecological science informs solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.”
This year 10 students received the 2025 GSPA award: Claire Bandet (University of Pennsylvania), Sarah A. Cuprewich (Dartmouth College), Chichedo I. Duru (Morgan State University), Raymond Erskine (Clemson University), Olufemi E. Fatunsin (Alabama A&M University), Pa-Shun Hawkins (University of California, Los Angeles), Katherina Autumn Kang (University of Delaware), Eva Legge (Syracuse University), Advyth Ramachandran (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Alison J. Robey (Yale University).
Flickr album with photos of this year’s award winners
Claire Bandet is a Master of Environmental Studies student at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about arctic ecosystems and studies reindeer, bird and insect herbivory in the High Arctic. Previously, Bandet worked on a range of projects, including tundra carbon cycling in Alaska’s North Slope, aquatic invasive species management in New York State, urban bat ecology in Copenhagen and the survival and growth of high-altitude trees in Adirondack State Park. In addition to her research, Bandet has built interdisciplinary connections into her work. At her university, she founded an environmental humanities discussion group and she created a workshop to educate ecologists about ecological grief. In 2024, she was a delegate to COP16 on Biological Diversity in Cali, Colombia. She will be starting her Ph.D. studying boreal forest ecology at Wilfrid Laurier University this summer. Bandet received her B.S. from Syracuse University where she dual-majored in Biology and Environment, Sustainability, and Policy.
Sarah A. Cuprewich is a Ph.D. candidate in the Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society Graduate Program at Dartmouth College. She studies how soil fungi support various critical ecosystem functions; her current projects include examining small mammals’ contributions to the dispersal of soil fungi across the U.S., measuring fungal biodiversity in Greenland soils and studying soil fungi of Boston community gardens. Cuprewich is committed to practicing fair and ethical ecology, advocating for diverse identities and experiences in science and fostering inclusion in academia. A former graduate fellow on the NSF-funded Joint Science Education Project, she developed an interest in science policy and diplomacy while teaching, mentoring and conducting research with students and teachers from the U.S., Denmark and Greenland. Cuprewich serves as the ESA Microbial Ecology Section student representative. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Vermont and an M.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources from Purdue University.
Chichedo I. Duru is a Ph.D. candidate in Bioenvironmental Science at Morgan State University, specializing in water quality management, sustainable land use, ecosystem restoration and the use of plants to restore contaminated settings. Her current research focuses on contaminants like PFAS and microplastics in surface water systems. She uses remote sensing and GIS to study how land use influences the fate and movement of these pollutants, aiming to identify their sources, mitigate contamination and enhance biodiversity protection in aquatic ecosystems. Driven by a passion for bridging research and policy, she seeks to translate scientific findings into actionable strategies for environmental conservation and sustainable resource management. Chichedo holds a Bachelor’s in Forestry and Wildlife Technology from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria, and a Master’s in Silviculture and Forest Biology from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Raymond Erskine is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University. He studies tree responses to drought, specifically investigating how and why seedlings display different physiological strategies for handling drought stress. The broader objective of his work is to understand the transition from fire-adapted forests to forests dominated by trees susceptible to fire and heat in the Southern Appalachian region, particularly in the forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As a first-generation scientist from an underrepresented background, Erskine is deeply committed to increasing diversity in STEM. He is passionate about mentoring students from historically marginalized communities and advocating for greater accessibility in research and science education. His long-term goal is to become a professor, where he can integrate his expertise in plant ecophysiology with a strong dedication to mentorship and science education. Erskine received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Olufemi E. Fatunsin is a Ph.D. student in Plant and Soil Science at Alabama A&M University, specializing in biostatistics and forest ecology. His research examines how forest diversity and environmental conditions enhance the health and resilience of Southeastern U.S. forests. Ultimately, he hopes to help develop strategies for maintaining productive forests amid environmental change. Fatunsin’s career goal is to leverage ecological modeling to advance the sustainability of forest ecosystems. A first-generation doctoral student, he completed his B.Agr. in Forestry and Wildlife Management from Ekiti State University, Nigeria, and he holds an M.S. in Biology from the University of Alabama as well as a Master’s in Forest Economics and Management from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Pa-Shun Hawkins is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Her research examines the intersection of social inequality and environmental degradation, and uses environmental DNA in combination with theory and techniques from social and ecological sciences to examine how human activities shape environmental change. Hawkins is an Early Career Fellow and Climate Resilience Fellow with the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science, where she helps lead community-driven initiatives. She also recently served as a graduate researcher with the Critical Ecology Lab, investigating theoretical frameworks connecting industrial emissions and socio-economic disparities. Hawkins is an alumna of Hampton University, where she earned her B.S. in marine and environmental science.
Katherina Autumn Kang is a Ph.D. student in Soil Science at the University of Delaware with a research interest in urban forests and greenspaces. Kang’s research primarily focuses on understanding how urban soil carbon and nitrogen cycling vary across urban forests and how they respond to both anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Through this work, she hopes to help guide policy and management practices to address carbon storage and nitrogen pollution and loss in urban settings. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., Kang worked in environmental nonprofits and local government positions in Dallas, Texas. She received her B.S. in Forensic and Investigative Science and Chemistry from Texas A&M University and her M.S. in Physical Geography from the University of North Texas.
Eva Legge is a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University in the Department of Biology, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Molly Beattie Visiting Scholar with the Society of American Foresters. Her research aims to bridge the gap between basic research on beneficial fungi-tree relationships and applied forest management. An avid science writer, she is the student coordinator for the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation's Young Voices of Science program, where she mentors other students on science communication, outreach, advocacy and policy. She takes every opportunity she can to share her research findings with landowners, forest managers and policymakers in order to help us manage our forests to be more resilient to global change. Legge received her B.A. in Biology from Dartmouth College.
Advyth Ramachandran is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is broadly interested in links between plant communities and ecosystem processes, with a particular focus on applying ecological theory to land restoration and nature-based solutions. Currently, his research investigates the role of plant traits in controlling overall plant growth and fire hazard in the grasslands of the Front Range of Colorado. Additionally, Ramachandran is studying how urban tree species influence the heat reduction benefits provided by urban forests. In this work, he is focused on developing research that produces findings that are useful for land managers and other science end-users. Ramachandran’s research is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Riverside.
Alison J. Robey is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. She is a theoretical ecologist interested in how the tools of mathematical modeling can be used to better predict and understand the behavior of natural systems. Her dissertation work focuses on how changing temperatures impact organisms’ tolerance of heat and cold and alter predictions of extinction risk. Robey is particularly interested in how such work can help inform effective conservation policies. In addition to research, she works as a Graduate Writing Fellow and a science communications writer for the Kent Land Trust. Robey earned her B.A. in Environmental Studies and Mathematics from Williams College and previously held research internships at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
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The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world’s largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 8,000 member Society publishes six journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach and education initiatives. The Society’s Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at https://www.esa.org
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