Robert and Patricia Anderson Outstanding Contribution to Science at Nachusa Grasslands Award
In 2021, Friends of Nachusa Grasslands used a substantial gift honoring Robert and Patricia Anderson to establish the Friends Endowment for Nachusa Science. The goal of the endowment is to permanently fund science research at Nachusa Grasslands. To honor this gift, Friends annually recognizes the work of a Nachusa researcher or research team who has demonstrated a commitment to scientific excellence at the preserve with the non-monetary Robert and Patricia Anderson Outstanding Contribution to Science at Nachusa Grasslands Award.
2026: Nick Barber
Dr. Nick Barber is a Professor of Biology and Associate Chair of the Biology Department at San Diego State University where he heads the Community Ecology and Restoration Lab.
Dr. Barber began his work at Nachusa Grasslands in 2013 and first received Friends of Nachusa Grasslands grant support in 2015 for Northern Illinois University’s (NIU) Research for Rookies program. The project centered on exposing undergraduate students to field research and establishing baseline data on dung beetle populations. He built upon this work with Friends grant support in 2016 and 2019 by investigating the impacts of fire, bison grazing, and planting age on ground beetle populations. |
After Dr. Barber moved to San Diego State University in 2019, he has remained involved with research at Nachusa Grasslands.
Dr. Barber has had an outsized impact on science at Nachusa Grasslands through graduate student mentorship, collaborative publications, and external research grants. Nine of his graduate students have conducted research at Nachusa Grasslands, with five projects receiving Friends funding. In addition, he is a co-author on eighteen scientific publications featuring Nachusa Grasslands data, most of which stem from a long-standing research collaboration with NIU Professor Dr. Holly Jones. Dr. Barber and collaborators have been awarded more than $2.4 million in federal grants supporting research at Nachusa Grasslands. For his strong support of undergraduate research, his mentorship of early-career scientists, and 13 years of positive impact on the Nachusa Grasslands community, we are pleased to honor Dr. Nick Barber with the 2026 Robert and Patricia Anderson Award for Outstanding Contribution to Science at Nachusa. |
2025: Laura Adamovicz
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Dr. Adamovicz is a veterinary epidemiologist who in her own words, works to understand how to keep “wild reptiles and amphibians healthy and better equipped to survive in our ever-changing world.” She first began her work at Nachusa in 2016 with a Friends of Nachusa Grasslands science grant to collect baseline data on Nachusa’s ornate box turtles.
Working with other members of the Wildlife Epidemiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she began her work at the preserve by collecting baseline data to not only gauge the health of Nachusa’s turtle population but also to compare to populations at other locations where this state-threatened species survives. Since that first field season at Nachusa, Dr. Adamovicz has returned every year to continue to develop and perform diagnostic tests that provide valuable measures of the turtles’ health and population dynamics. |
These tests along with the other work of the lab have been invaluable in developing strategies for protecting Nachusa’s ornate box turtle populations. She has published six peer-reviewed scientific papers including data collected at Nachusa Grasslands, and she provides regular, clear feedback to the Nachusa community about her findings and potential management implications.
Dr. Adamovicz is a valued member of the Nachusa Grasslands community and we are pleased to honor her with the 2025 Robert and Patricia Anderson Award for Outstanding Contribution to Science at Nachusa. |
2024: Holly Jones
Dr. Holly Jones, Professor of Biology, at Northern Illinois University began investing in long-term research at Nachusa Grasslands in 2012, knowing bison would be reintroduced in 2014. Along with her collaborator Dr. Nick Barber, Dr. Jones developed a core research project that integrated multiple trophic groups to examine how management activities: prescribed fire, restoration age, and the introduction of megaherbivore grazing, impacted not only individual populations and communities, but how they impacted ecological interactions.
Dr. Jones’ work has been funded multiple times from the National Science Foundation, supporting numerous graduate students who have a strong track record of being funded by the Friends of Nachusa Grasslands science grants. Her work has been published in leading scientific journals including Ecology and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These strong scientific outcomes are largely a result of Dr. Jones’ dedication to fostering a supportive and inclusive lab group, putting the physical and mental well-being of students first. Dr. Jones and her lab are valued members of the Nachusa Grasslands community, and we are pleased to honor her with the 2024 Robert and Patricia Anderson Award for Outstanding Contribution to Science at Nachusa. |
2023: Sean Griffin
Dr. Sean Griffin began studying bees at Nachusa in 2013 in partnership with Dr. Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar. Beginning with a baseline survey of the bee populations on remnants, restored land, and alternative land use areas at the preserve, the work grew into an exploration of the impact of management actions including bison introduction on the diversity and abundance of bee species and their interactions with plants. Together, Dr. Griffin and Dr. Bruninga-Socolar are creating one of the few existing long-term data sets of native bees very useful for studying fluctuating bee populations and long-term trends.
Their exciting discoveries of rare and endangered bee species as well as their many publications and presentations about the bees of Nachusa have drawn the attention of other researchers who now consider the preserve one of the Midwest’s preeminent sites for the study of native bees. Dr. Griffin is presently the Director of Science and Conservation at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, but he will be continuing his long-term monitoring of bee populations at Nachusa in partnership with Dr. Bruninga-Socolar. |
2022: Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar
Nine years ago, Dr. Bruninga-Socolar began studying bees at Nachusa. She was awarded her first of several Friends of Nachusa Grasslands science grants in 2015 to support her ongoing work with Dr. Sean Griffin. Beginning with a baseline survey of the bee populations on remnants, restored land, and alternative land use areas at the preserve, the work grew into an exploration of the impact of management actions including bison introduction on the diversity and abundance of bee species and their interactions with plants.
Exciting discoveries of rare and endangered bee species have been dramatic highlights of Dr. Bruninga-Socolar’s work. Her numerous publications and presentations about the bees of Nachusa have drawn other researchers to the preserve and made it one of the Midwest’s preeminent sites for learning more about these important pollinators. Dr. Bruninga-Socolar is now an Assistant Professor at Albright College in Reading, PA and plans to continue her long-term monitoring of bee populations at Nachusa. |
2021: Rich King, Tom Anton, and Dave Mauger
The first Robert and Patricia Anderson Award presented in 2021 recognized the long-term and continuing work of Dr. Richard King, Tom Anton, and Dave Mauger who study, manage, and promote the populations of endangered Blanding’s Turtles at Nachusa and other sites in northern Illinois.
Their ongoing effort to increase the population and promote the persistence of the state endangered Blanding’s Turtles at Nachusa adjacent properties within the Franklin Creek corridor entered a new phase in 2020 when thirty-seven hatchlings were released. Additional eggs were also collected in 2020, and the hatchlings have been reared for release in 2021. In addition to tracking the new “head-start “hatchlings to obtain data on their survival, movements and habitat use, this research team has tracked adult females to their nest sites and collected eggs for head-starting and release in 2022. 
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UPDATED 04/2026