LYME — Rochelle Davis, volunteer steward of the Grassy Hill Preserve, was awarded the Lyme Land Trust ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award at the organization’s annual meeting.
During the last two years, Davis worked to improve habitat in the Grassy Hill Preserve Meadow to promote biodiversity. She has transformed a field filled with invasive plants to one populated by native plants that support a variety of pollinators and wildlife.
Davis single-handedly removed dense thickets of invasive plants, including autumn olive trees and multiflora bushes.
At home, she propagates native plants from seeds to replant in the Preserve.
Davis shares detailed reports via the app “iNaturalist,” where she started a “Grassy Hill Preserve” virtual project to digitally catalogue the species in the preserve. The project can be accessed by anyone who visits the iNaturalist website or has the app on their device.
Over 130 flora and fauna observations have been documented to date.
She regularly walks the preserve and actively manages what is growing, at all times going above and beyond what is asked of a steward.
Davis has also actively participated in the Lyme Land Trust project Imagining Lyme – A Visual Exploration of Lyme’s Preserves since its inception two years ago. She has been awarded for several photos of distinction and won the 2021 People’s Vision Award – chosen annually by the public out of all the submissions, with her photo Mushroom in a Forest, Beebe Preserve.
During the award presentation, Sue Cope, Lyme Land Trust Environmental Director, said, “ The power and example of what one dedicated human can do in a year for one preserve has been staggering and we are so incredibly grateful for Rochelle’s time and effort.”