Restoration Ecology Lab
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech
Advancing ecological restoration
We aim to improve ecological restoration outcomes for society and nature through applied research and effective capacity building. We work in a variety of terrestrial ecosystems including temperate grasslands and woodlands and tropical forests.
Lab News
Nov 2026 – Alex Dyer (Lisa Kennedy’s former MS student) published a GIS prioritization for spruce forest restoration in the Grayson Highlands in Restoration Ecology
Nov 2026 – Lab alumnus Dr. Jordan Coscia and 2020 field botanist Jared Gorrell were featured in a bioblitz video on Senator Bill Frist’s substack
Oct 2026 – New paper from Choconexión: Nicole Lussier writes in Oikos about the functional recovery of understory bird communities during tropical forest succession
Oct 2026 – Visiting professor Pedro Brancalion was interviewed on NPR; he spoke about how complex restoration challenges are unlikely to have simple answers.
Sep 2026 – Leighton received the Saied andParyanaz Mostaghimi Excellence in Basic Research Award from the VT College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for advancing fundamental understanding of ecological community assembly in temperate grasslands and tropical forests through ecological restoration experiments
Read the latest blog posts on
Natural History of Ecological Restoration
- Bill Stinson, a lifelong naturalist, has dedicated over two decades to restoring a degraded borrow pit in Florida's Panhandle back to its native Longleaf Pine-Wiregrass Forest. Through extensive experimentation, including deep ripping of compacted clay, planting native species, and reintroducing fire, he has transformed the area into a budding ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of persistence […]
- The Meadow Creek Watershed, vital to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, faces ecological decline from historical land management practices and climate change. A collaborative restoration project integrates Indigenous knowledge with modern research to restore the watershed's health through interconnected valley and upland treatments, aiming for ecological and cultural recovery over the next […]
- WWF China's restoration project in Qian’an County aims to combat soil salinization in Northeast China's grasslands while integrating local livelihoods. Through native grass seeding and specific soil preparation, the initiative has successfully promoted biodiversity recovery over three years. It underscores the necessity of combining ecological goals with sustainable agricultural practices for lasting success.
