June 9, 2025
Restoring Native Grasslands in the Face of Invasives with Wendy Gardner
Grasslands are among our most threatened ecosystems, providing critical habitat, biodiversity, and ecological services. Yet their restoration is increasingly challenged by invasive plants that alter soil, competition, and recovery dynamics. This talk will highlight the importance of native grasslands, the difficulties posed by invasive species, and case studies of student research on grassland restoration.
Wendy Gardner is a Professor in the Natural Resource Science Program at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC, Canada where she has been teaching for over 20 years. Her research program is based around disturbance and plant community change with a focus on rangeland systems. Within her discipline she is an active member on the executive for several organizations (Society for Range Management, BC Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation, Grasslands Conservation Council of BC) and is passionate about educating people about rangeland ecosystems.