Meredith Cornett, Ph.D.

Meredith Cornett
© TNC

Director of Conservation Science

Meredith Cornett has directed The Nature Conservancy’s science program in Minnesota and the Eastern Dakotas since August 2003. In this capacity, she oversees conservation planning, research, and ecological monitoring activities, often in collaboration with universities, land management agencies, and other non-governmental organizations.

In addition, she is an adjunct faculty member in Forest Resources and the Conservation Biology Program at the University of Minnesota. Her previous positions include Conservation Ecologist for the Conservancy’s Northeast Minnesota Program, Forest Ecologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and Community Forestry Extensionist with the Peace Corps in the Republic of Panama.

Dr. Cornett received a Ph.D. (2000) and M.S. (1996) in Forestry from the University of Minnesota’s College of Natural Resources in St. Paul and holds a B.A. in Biology from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. Her dissertation work examined restoration and conservation strategies of upland northern white cedar forests on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The focus of her recent work is on applying ecological disturbance theory in the development of land management practices that are ecologically compatible and economically viable. 

Feature Projects

  • Gap-Based Silviculture in the Manitou Forest Landscape
    In 2003 and 2004, a partnership effort known as the Manitou Collaborative created a series of silvicultural gaps to restore structure in young stands of northern hardwoods. The management objective? To determine if the creation of small, medium, and large gaps could emulate the patterns and processes more typical of old-growth forests. At that time, we assessed baseline differences between old growth and young stands in collaboration with the Center for Hardwood Ecology. In 2009, Dr. Tony D’Amato (University of Minnesota), M.S. student Nick Bolton (University of Minnesota) and Matt Tyler (Prescott College) revisited 40 gaps created across four different stands to determine whether management objectives were met – five years after treatment. Preliminary findings indicate that although some structural objectives were achieved, the gaps continue to have low species diversity. They are dominated by sugar maple. For more information on this project, and on Dr. D’Amato’s research, click here. 
     
  • Reinventing the Boreal Forest
    We are collaborating with Dr. Peter Reich at the University of Minnesota, the US Forest Service, the Minnesota Forest Resources Council, and many other partners in a ground-breaking project funded by the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment’s Discovery Grant Program. The project focuses on bolstering the resilience of the boreal forest to help this vital ecosystem adapt to change. As one of many stakeholders in the process, the Conservancy will participate in developing scenarios that address a range of possible future outcomes in a time of uncertainty. In the context of potential societal choices in response to these scenarios, we will design adaptive forest management strategies.