Lisa Lofland Gould was the first executive director of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, holding the post from 1994 to 2004. Her accomplishments in education, the environment, and public policy, among many other fields which improve our lives every day, are hard to overstate.
In the early days of the Survey, Gould helped define its mission and activities. During her 10 years as executive director, she developed the Biota of Rhode Island publications, Rhode Island Naturalist bulletin, and a calendar of public programs including the Ecology of Rhode Island conference, the Rhode Island BioBlitz, and the Mark Gould lecture series. Gould also started and oversaw the Ecological Inventory, Monitoring, and Survey program, the Biota of Rhode Island database, and the Rhode Island Invasive Species Council.
As Gould prepared to leave the Survey in 2006, three organizations that owed her great debts, the Rhode Island Natural History Survey and the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, both of which she helped found, and the University of Rhode Island Outreach Center, thanked her by creating a fund the proceeds of which support a regular public event on the subject of Rhode Island’s wild plants in her name. The initial fund was over $11,000.
The Lisa Lofland Gould Native Plant Program is an event such as Lisa herself might give–a talk, walk, demonstration, workshop, or seminar–on rare and endangered, invasive, or otherwise interesting or thought-provoking plants or plant communities in Rhode Island.
Lisa Lofland Gould Native Plant Programs:
- 2023 – Steve Castorani, North Creek Nurseries: The Native Plant Supply Chain
- 2022 – Panel Discussion: Seeding the Future
- 2021 – Annie White, U. of Vermont: How Native Plant Cultivars Affect Pollinators
- 2019 – Rob Gegear, U. Mass. Dartmouth: Ecological Pollinator Conservation: How do we Keep our Native Ecosystems Humming
- 2018 – Bill Brumback, Native Plant Trust: Rare Plants of New England and their Conservation
- 2017 – Lisa Gould: Back to Our Roots: Being Wild About Wild Plants
- 2015 – Tish McGrail, RI Wild Plant Society: Up Close & Personal with Native Plants and Pollinators: Garden Tour and Talk
- 2014 – Hope Leeson, RI Natural History Survey: Seed-cleaning Workshop and Salt Marsh Restoration Tour
- 2013 – Tim Boland, Polly Hill Arboretum: Connecting Corridors: Restoring Native Habitats One Native Plant at a Time
- 2011 – Arthur Haines, Native Plant Trust: Flora Novae Angliae: Rhode Island
- 2010 – Chris Neill, Woodwell Climate Research Center: Coastal Plain Ponds of Southern New England: Local Biodiversity Hotspots in the Face of Global Change
- 2009 – Doug Tallamy, U. of Delaware: Bringing Nature Home
- 2007 – Lisa Gould: Exploring Plants at Nettie Jones Nature Preserve