Natural Resources & Environmental Science

Outstanding Graduate Student

The Outstanding Graduate Student Award is given annually to graduate students who have distinguished records within their programs, shown leadership qualities on campus and worked for the improvement of our College.

---

While pursuing her doctorate, Cody Reed has made creative and novel contributions to the field of meadow ecology and biogeochemistry. Her work has shown that meadows can sequester as much carbon in a year, per unit area, as a tropical rainforest - or, alternatively, that a meadow can lose carbon at similar rates. She has demonstrated that land managers can meaningfully impact carbon fluxes in meadows on decadal timescales. In addition, she has developed tools that will assist in the prioritization of meadow restoration and estimation of the impacts of meadow restoration on carbon fluxes. Cody has presented at many meetings, generated funding and authorized publications. Her efforts as a mentor and colleague have been noteworthy as well. She adjusted quickly and thoughtfully to the twists that science brings, and she has sought out collaborators, used techniques from other disciplines, and never been afraid to explore the unknown. Cody brought many skills with her to her doctorate, but she has exhibited the intellectual and methodological flexibility necessary to flourish in the dynamic environment of translational science.