Laura Meyerson is a Professor at the University of Rhode Island in the Department of Natural Resources Science where she studies invasive species and ecological restoration. At URI, Laura serves as the director for the minor in Restoration Ecology. She teaches courses in advanced ecology, ecological restoration, and invasion biology. Laura serves as Associate Editor-in-Chief for the journal Biological Invasions and is an Associate Editor for the journal Neobiota. Laura serves on the international Science Advisory Board for Stellenbosch University in South Africa and is a member of the Invasive Species Advisory Council (ISAC) for the National Invasive Species Council (NISC). She is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow and a Fulbright Fellow. Prior to coming to the University of Rhode Island, Laura was a staff scientist and research associate at the H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment. She worked on The State of the Nation’s Ecosystem project, a report on national-level ecological indicators in the United States (http:www.heinzcenter.orgecosystemsindex.htm). This project covers the six major ecosystem types in the U.S. aggregating data on system dimensions, chemical and physical characteristics, biological components, and human uses. From September 2001 through August 2003, Laura was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Environmental Fellow. She spent the first year of this fellowship working with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Invasive Species Council on biosecurity and invasive species. During the second year of her AAAS fellowship, Laura received an appointment as a research scientist at the Smithsonian Institution where she worked with the Global Invasive Species Program (GISP) on two global assessments (one for island systems, one for freshwater systems) for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Prior to her time in Washington, DC, Laura spent a year at Brown University as an Adjunct Assistant Professor where she taught introductory ecology and continued her research on invasive species and wetland systems. Her scientific interests are in invasion science, restoration ecology, and conservation biology. Laura defended her dissertation in May 2000 at Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
