Biology Professor Honored For Research That Illuminates Impact of Climate Change
by Jay Pfeifer, Davidson College
May 26, 2026
Susana Wadgymar, biology professor and evolutionary ecologist at Davidson College, was recently honored by the Ecological Society of America for her research that sheds light on plants’ ability to weather climate change.
In May, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) named Wadgymar a recipient of the 2026 W.S. Cooper Award. The award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the fields of geobotany and physiographic ecology, honors Wadgymar and her co-authors for their groundbreaking research on how plant populations respond to the escalating pressures of climate change. The committee specifically highlighted their study, “Adaptation and gene flow are insufficient to rescue a montane plant under climate change,” published in the journal Science last year.
Wadgymar and her colleagues’ award-winning research provides a rigorous empirical test of evolutionary resilience. By monitoring more than 100,000 seeds and seedlings of the montane plant Boechera stricta across five elevations, the research team quantified the species’ ability to survive in both current and simulated future climates.
Their findings revealed a sobering reality: While these plants have historically adapted well to their local environments, the rapid pace of modern climate change has disrupted these patterns.
Keep reading: https://www.davidson.edu/news/2026/05/26/biology-professor-honored-research-illuminates-impact-climate-change
Read the ESA announcement: https://esa.org/blog/2026/05/06/ecological-society-of-america-announces-2026-award-recipients/