Clemson University student Raymond Erskine has been named a 2025 Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award recipient by the Ecological Society of America.
Erskine is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biological Sciences. He is from Ghana.
The award provides graduate students hands-on training and science policy experience including interacting with congressional decision-makers, federal agency officials and ecologists who work in the science and public policy arena.
At Clemson, Erskine studies tree responses to drought, specifically investigating how and why seedlings display different physiological strategies for handling drought stress.
The broader objective of his work is to understand the impacts of mesophication on forest dynamics in the Southern Appalachian region, especially the forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, as drought events intensify due to changes in climate. Mesophication is the process by which forests transition from being open to closed canopies, dominated by shade-tolerant tree species. The process is often caused by reduced fire activity.
Erskine believes that federal support for science, especially plant ecology, has been crucial in addressing urgent environmental challenges in the United States and in his home country.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award and grateful to the Ecological Society of America. This gives me the opportunity to connect ecological research with policy, allowing me to effectively communicate the importance of federally funded science in addressing environmental challenges,” he said. “As a first-generation scientist from an underrepresented background, I am thankful for this experience and excited to advocate for policies that support sustainable environmental stewardship.”
Forest resilience
His dissertation research, funded by the National Science Foundation, will help predict forest resilience to drought and inform local forest management strategies.
He points to the ongoing restoration of the American chestnut, once dominant in Eastern U.S. forests before it was decimated by an introduced blight. Federally funded programs such as Seeds of Success by the Bureau of Land Management have also supported genetic research and reforestation efforts.
“As drought-related climatic changes imperil forests, federal support for science and ecology becomes more critical,” he said.
As part of the award, Erskine will be in Washington, D.C., March 24-27 for policy, communication and career training followed by meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Erskine’s long-term goal is to work in academia but also at the intersection of science and policy, advocating for the role of federally funded research in promoting environmental sustainability and resilience.
He received his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. He earned his master’s degree in biological sciences (plant ecology) from the University of Northern Colorado.
While a student at UNC, he received the Dr. Albert M. Winchester Graduate Fellowship in Biology.
Erskine has published one paper, of which he was first author, and three more are in preparation.
He is a reviewer for the African Journal of Plant Sciences and served as a student volunteer for the 2023 Ecological Society of America conference. He is a member of the Colorado Native Plant Society and the International Association of Vegetation Science.
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