USU’s Megan Vahsen Wins Prestigious George Mercer Award From Ecological Society of America

by Peter Adler, Utah State University
May 30, 2024

Megan Vahsen is this year’s winner of the George Mercer award from the Ecological Society of America, a notable recognition for “outstanding contributions to ecology by an early-career author.” Vahsen led the team that published research on how rapid plant trait evolution can alter coastal wetland resilience to sea level rise, in Science in January 2023.

Vahsen is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Quinney College of Natural Resources and Ecology Center. The research that led to the award, completed as part of her doctoral program, calls attention to the significant yet often overlooked role of rapid evolution in shaping how ecosystems respond to global change. Examining a dominant coastal marsh sedge, the work reveals how genetically-based variation in a plant’s traits — specifically traits affecting root growth — can evolve rapidly and influence a marsh’s resilience to sea level rise.

Keep reading: https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usus-megan-vahsen-wins-prestigious-george-mercer-award-from-ecological-society-of-america