USAO Professor and Team Awarded $2.1 Million Dollar Department of Defense Grant
The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma is proud to announce that Dr. Rachel Jones, Dean of the School of Science and Kinesiology and Professor of Environmental Science and Biology, and a team of colleagues across the United States has been awarded a federal grant through the Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) to study and preserve the longleaf pine ecosystem across the southeastern United States.
Dr. Jones will serve as a Co-Principal Investigator on the project, collaborating with primary Principal Investigator, Dr. Jack Williams of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and alongside an elite team of paleoecologists, fire ecologists, and land management experts.
The primary objective of the research is to analyze long-term palaeoecological data to identify the key environmental components that have historically maintained the stability of the longleaf pine ecosystem. By understanding these historical baselines, the team aims to provide military installation land managers with effective measures to maintain and improve the stability of lands crucial for training operations and military readiness. The southeastern U.S. represents one of the regions with the highest concentration of military installations in the nation where ensuring stability is of utmost importance.
"My role will be to serve as primary liaison with military installation environmental departments as well as lead macrobotanical analyst and one of two pollen analysts." said Jones. "This grant will also support our goal in training our students who are interested in this type of work.”
Dr. Jones’ technical work will focus on conducting fossil pollen and macro botanical fossil analyses extracted from lake sediment cores to reconstruct past environments. By pulling samples from the bottom of the lake, Dr. Jones can study trapped, ancient plant tissues and pollen grains, allowing the team to understand how the composition of vegetation on the landscapes areas over time.
Beyond its ecological and military impact, the SERDP grant will directly benefit the USAO community by providing financial support to train undergraduate student researchers in advanced palaeoecological methodologies.
Dr. Jones will begin foundational work this summer by collecting reference materials. She is scheduled to join the larger research team this fall for the project's first round of lake sediment coring.
To learn more about the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma’s science and kinesiology programs, visit usao.edu/academics.
About USAO:
The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma is Oklahoma’s only public liberal arts college. Located in Chickasha, USAO is a distinctive institution offering a challenging interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving. With a focus on broad-based education and civic responsibility, USAO prepares students to become well-rounded, adaptable leaders ready to contribute meaningfully to their communities and the world.
Contact: Hannah Thompson | 405-574-1362