Professor Laura Jackson grew up surrounded by prairie, wheat, and pasture in the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas. She received a bachelor's degree in biology from Grinnell College and a PhD in plant ecology from Cornell University. Laura has been a UNI Biology faculty member since 1993, teaching courses in conservation biology, restoration ecology, and environmental studies. Her research has focused on the restoration of biological diversity in agriculture landscapes and the dynamics of seeds and seedling establishment in tallgrass prairie restoration. Laura has served on several advisory boards, including the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture (2001–2012), the Iowa State Preserves Board, and Monarch Joint Venture. She is co-editor, with Dana Jackson, of The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems (2002, Island Press).

Selected Publications (* indicates UNI student)

• Ai Wen, Kenneth J. Elgersma, Mark E. Sherrard, Laura L. Jackson, Justin Meissen and Mark C. Myers. 2021. Wild bee visitors and their association with sown and unsown floral resources in reconstructed pollinator habitats within an agriculture landscape. Insect Conservation and Diversity. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12539
• Meissen, J, A. Glidden, M. Sherrard, K. Elgersma and L. L. Jackson. 2019. Seed mix design and first year management influence multifunctionality and cost‐effectiveness in prairie reconstruction. Restoration Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13013
• Pellish, C.A.*, M. E. Sherrard, P. A. Leytem* and L. L. Jackson. 2018. Small vertebrate granivores reduce seedling emergence in native tallgrass prairie restoration. Restoration Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12557
• Riebkes, J. L.*, M. E. Sherrard, and L. L. Jackson.  2018. Supplemental seed increases native seedling establishment in roadside prairie restoration. Restoration Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12699
• W. E. Thogmartin, L. López-Hoffman, J. Rohweder, J. Diffendorfer, R. Drum, D. Semmens, S. Black, I. Caldwell, D. Cotter, P. Drobney*, L. Jackson, M. Gale, D. Helmers, S. Hilburger, E. Howard, K. Oberhauser, J. Pleasants, O. Taylor, P. Ward, J. Weltzin, B. Semmens, M. Steele, and R. Wiederholt. Restoring monarch butterfly habitat in the Midwestern US: ‘all hands on deck.’ Environmental Research Letters 12 (2017) 074005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7637
• Jackson, L. L. 2008. Who designs the agricultural landscape? Landscape Journal 27:23–40. Special issue on Metropolitan Ecology. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43323802
• Williams, D.W.*, L. L. Jackson and D. D. Smith. 2007. Effects of frequent mowing on survival and persistence of forbs seeded into a species-poor grassland. Restoration Ecology 50:24–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2006.00186.x
• Dana Jackson and Laura L. Jackson, editors. 2002. The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems. Island Press, Washington D.C.
• Jackson, L. L., D. Keeney and E. Gilbert. 2000. Swine manure management plans in North-Central Iowa: nutrient loading and policy implications. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 55:205–212. https://www.jswconline.org/content/55/2/205
• Jackson, L. L. and P. W. Comus. 1999. Ecological consequences of agricultural development in a Sonoran Desert Valley. In R. H. Robichaux, ed. Ecology and Conservation of Sonoran Desert Plants: A tribute to the Desert Laboratory. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
• Jackson, L. L. 1999. Establishing tallgrass prairie species on a rotationally grazed permanent pasture in the Upper Midwest: remnant plant assessment and seeding and grazing regimes. Restoration Ecology 7:127–138. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1526-100X.1999.72003.x
• Jackson, L. L., N. Lopoukhine, and D. Hillyard. 1995. Ecological restoration: A definition and comments. Restoration Ecology 3:71–75. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1526-100X.1999.72003.x 
• Jackson, L. L. and C. L. Dewald. 1994. Predicting evolutionary consequences of greater reproductive effort in Tripsacum dactyloides, a perennial grass. Ecology 75:627–641. https://doi.org/10.2307/1941721

 A full c.v. is available upon request.