KINGSTON, R.I. – May 9, 2025 – University of Rhode Island professor of natural resources science Laura Meyerson, who studies invasion science and restoration ecology, is heading to Iceland this fall to study the Stokkseyri-Eyrarbakki coastline as part of a Fulbright Fellowship. An ecologically and culturally important region along southern Iceland, the coastline includes fresh water, brackish pools, salt marshes, and an adjacent extensive area of beaches and intertidal flats.

In collaboration with the Icelandic Institute of Nature Research and an independent Icelandic researcher who studies the socioecology of the region, Meyerson will develop a baseline ecological data set to monitor biodiversity with readily repeatable protocols for a unique coastal lava beach region. The team will also update existing data and contribute to a conservation management plan to identify and quantify ecoservices to local inhabitants and the region.

“This project will be an opportunity for me to work in an Arctic region for the first time doing field work in a lava beach system that is an important migratory bird stopover site and that has never been inventoried for fauna and flora other than a winter bird count,” she says. “This lava beach is really interesting in that it has a lot in common with a salt marsh on the upland side and somewhat mimics a coral reef in terms of its heterogeneous structure. Of course, there are also a lot of differences, but it would be very interesting to draw comparisons and think about how this site might change as the oceans and the planet warms.”

Meyerson’s goal for this Fulbright trip is to write a proposal for the region to become a Ramsar wetlands conservation site, a wetland designated as being of international importance under the international Ramsar Convention treaty. “Protecting biodiversity has always been my primary motivation for research and teaching,” she says. She also plans to organize an international conference on Arctic biological invasions to be held in Iceland.

“The selection for this Fulbright Award demonstrates the cutting-edge global impact of Dr. Meyerson’s research,” says Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Kristin Johnson. “This recognition — her third — is an incredible honor and professional achievement. Her research will expand URI’s connections to Iceland through research collaborations addressing global challenges and through building people to people connections.”

Meyerson previously spent a year in Prague, Czech Republic, on a Fulbright award, collaborating on a large experiment on plant genome size and invasiveness with Czech colleagues. In 2018, she was a Fulbright Global Scholar and traveled to Argentina, South Africa, and the Czech Republic studying Phragmites australis, a highly invasive plant in North America, in its native range.

An important aspect of the Fulbright program is to build long-term relationships with colleagues and foster goodwill between the U.S. and other countries, and Meyerson says she has enjoyed this aspect of the role. “When I was in Prague, I brought my family with me and my two young boys attended school there and we met many families that way,” she says. “I am still in touch with many of these friends and I have maintained an active research collaboration with many of my Czech colleagues. We publish together regularly.”

For this trip, she says she looks forward to reconnecting with Icelandic friends that she has known since graduate school. “I will have the chance to meet their friends and family and participate in activities such as competitions of Icelandic horses, raising dogs, and shearing sheep,” she says, noting that she also looks forward to giving lectures where invited, attending events, and establishing long-term collaborations with researchers local to the area.

“Iceland is a beautiful country with incredible nature and a really interesting history. I am excited to be engaging in meaningful research that may possibly lead to the conservation of a globally, ecologically important site,” she says. “I am also very excited to experience the Icelandic winter, to see the Northern Lights, and to take advantage of all of the fantastic Icelandic wool that is available — I am a knitter!” 

Meyerson is the third affiliate from URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences to be awarded a Fulbright to Iceland. Professor Beth Mendenhall, associate professor of marine affairs and political science, was a Fulbright grantee in 2021. In 2012, Megan O’Brien ’11 M.S. ’12 was a Fulbright U.S. Student Awardee when she was a graduate student in Biological and Environmental Sciences’ Integrative and Evolutionary Biology specialization.

Over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the United States government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org.

This story was written by Anna Gray in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.