Layla Dunlap joined the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative in early January 2022 as our first Director of Finance and Operations. Layla brings with her a wide variety of professional experiences. Her educational background includes an M.S. in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho where her research focused on different techniques for growing native plants for restoration. She also has a B.A. in Biology from the University of Montana. Recently we sat down with Layla to learn a little more about her and her role at SGI.
We’re Listening: Sharing Our 2022 Communication Plans
At the beginning of the year we asked you about what you would like to see from us in regards to our communications activities going forward. We greatly appreciate everyone who took the time to answer our communication surveys. You gave us a lot of really useful information and feedback. Now that we’ve had a chance to review it all and make some plans, we wanted to share that information and let you know some of the things you can expect from us over the coming year.
Charting SGI’s Communication Activities for 2022: What do you want to hear from us?
This is the time of year when many people take a few minutes to review the past year and think about what we want to do in the coming year. We’re doing that within SGI, as well. One of the areas where we want to improve in 2022 is with our communications and outreach.
We have lots of ideas for things we want to share with you, but we also want to know what you want to hear about. In addition to what we talk about, there is also the question of how and where we talk about it. Today, there are literally hundreds of options and formats that we could choose from. Again, we have ideas, but also want to make sure we are focusing on the formats that you use and prefer.
With that in mind, will you please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and ideas with us?
If you have 3 minutes to help, please take this 2 question survey.
If you have 5 minutes to help, please take this 4 question survey.
If you have 8 minutes and are ambitious, feel free to do both surveys.
Both surveys are anonymous and will close on January 10, 2022.
Thank you for helping us chart the course of our communications activities for 2022. Expect to hear a lot more from us in the coming year.
Wild, Scenic, and Scared
In October, Dwayne Estes, Michelle McInnis, and Zach Irich of SGI went exploring a beautiful 4.5 mile section of Clear Creek Gorge. Their work had two main aspects, one led by Michelle and one by Zach. Michelle is leading a study of the riverscour grasslands while Zach is surveying the river for aquatic native plant beds (not grasslands per se but helps fund exploration of the river which puts us in contact with the riverscour). But riverscour is extremely treacherous and requires a high degree of planning, something that Dwayne was unpleasantly reminded about.
Home is Where the Grassland Is
As a botanist with the Virginia Natural Heritage Program, it was becoming clear to me that Virginia was losing its grassland flora, and so in 1992 after construction of my house, I began some pretty intense vegetation management on a couple of acres around the house. I wanted to watch how the understory vegetation might develop and it seemed to be a wonderful way to enjoy and learn from the land around my home.
Tales from the Crypt – Extinct Plants of the Southeastern Grasslands
I’m an optimist at heart, which makes the topic of extinction a sobering contrast to my personality. Yet, extinct plants have captured my imagination for some time. . . . When I would attend conferences or talk with other botanists, I would often ask “What extinct plants are known from your State?” I was surprised to discover most botanists had no idea.
Save the Planet, Right Here, Right Now
How do I fight for the preservation of the rain forests and the indigenous tribes that call them home? How do I stand in front of a bulldozer in SE Asia in defense of an Orangutan’s last tree? How do I make a dent in the marine plastic pollution to which our Tennessee River contributes so much? How do I contribute to a solution when I’m locked into a life of time clock punches, daily commutes (or zoom meetings), and mobile banking notifications? Where does one start?
The Ghosts of the Grass-pinks (and Other Penalties of an Ecological Education)
Anyone who has ever suffered the loss of a special place to “progress” can relate to this blog from SGI’s Chief Ecologist, Theo Witsell. “One of the biggest failures of the conservation movement is that sites that are small, or isolated, or expensive (which are often the rarest and most critical) get sacrificed.”
