Else Demeulenaere's research and advocacy on Guam's endangered håyun lågu, or Serianthes nelsonii won her an award and project funding at July's 2019 Botany Conference in Tuscon, Ariz.

She received the competitive Botanical Advocacy Leadership Grant — an honor given to an individual who helps bridge public policymaking with issues relevant to plant science. The grant includes $1,000 to help fund the recipient’s proposed project.

Demeulenaere is the associate director for the Center for Island Sustainability who is pursing her doctoral degree under an interdisciplinary arrangement with the University of Guam and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, according to a UOG release.

She is concurrently conducting phylogenetic research on the håyun lågu and an ethnobotanical study — a study of the tree's uses based on traditional cultural knowledge — at Litekyan. She has also provided testimony before the 34th and 35th Guam Legislatures relative to her research in Northern Guam.

Her proposal, “Bringing Biocultural Diversity to the Forefront of the Political Agenda in Guam,” will give her the opportunity to further advocate for endemic plants, cultural practices, and the protection of sacred places like Litekyan at a policy level.

“My involvement and research take root in the social movement to protect Litekyan. The plans to build a Live-Fire Training Range Complex at Tailalo’ threaten access to Litekyan, a sacred place, and will fragment a very valuable limestone forest, which is home to many endemic species intrinsically connected to the rich CHamoru culture,” Demeulenaere said.