Dharma Fribley is a 3rd year undergraduate research assistant with the KOB Pollinator Lab at Iowa State. As someone who has always been enthusiastic about the environment, Dharma is pursuing degrees in Landscape Architecture and International Studies with a focus on Global Environmental Sustainability. With her time in the KOB Pollinator Lab, she is exploring different career pathways that combine her love for conservation and landscape architecture.
What did you enjoy most about growing up in the Midwest? I enjoyed having the space to be outside and explore. I imagine that growing up in the city would have not given me the same frequent access to natural spaces that living in the rural Midwest has.
Why did you choose Iowa State for college? As a student studying Landscape Architecture, the program through ISU’s College of Design offered the unique opportunity to spend my entire first year of school exploring all the different design disciplines before committing to a major. This time allowed me to talk individually with students and professors from every department and feel truly confident that what I wanted to study was what I wanted to study. Furthermore, I was drawn to the strong incorporation of travel opportunities in my studies. My program ensures that students get to travel at least once a semester to expand knowledge about different types of landscapes. I really enjoy how the opportunity to travel is so well integrated into my studies.
What’s the most useful thing that you've learned as a student? The most important thing I have learned is how to advocate for myself and balance my time. It can be easy to spend all my time on working on my design projects, but that often comes at the expense of the project’s quality and my own physical and mental well-being. And through the years, I’ve realized it’s important prioritize finding balance in how I spend my time, because school is not the only important thing in my life.
Why did you choose Landscape Architecture for your major? I actually did not discover landscape architecture until halfway through my freshman year. I originally thought I wanted to study architecture because I enjoyed the balance between logical/critical thinking and creativity. However, I eventually switched to landscape architecture because I was drawn to the immense possibilities between how to bridge the built environment with the natural environment. Landscape architecture is extremely versatile and also offers so many different career paths, which excites me!
Why are you interested in native plants? I didn’t discover the importance of native plants until my first year in the landscape architecture program. I am deeply fascinated by the ways in which plants interact with each other and the built environment. The complexity of native plant communities offers a depth of resilience that many non-native species cannot, and I think that there is a disconnect between the natural spaces where native plants live and the built environments where they are often not present that needs to be remedied.
What research are you conducting this summer? I am helping a graduate student, Sonja, conduct vegetation surveys in 34 different prairies in Iowa and Minnesota. We are looking at both native and reconstructed prairies and analyzing the similarities and differences between the vegetation compositions of the communities.
What are you excited to learn during this internship? I hope that in learning more about how native plants interact with each other on an individual and community level will allow me to find ways to more successfully integrate them in designed landscapes.
What skills do you hope to refine during the internship? I am hoping to refine my observations skills and increase my capacity for attention to detail. I believe the prairie is an interesting area of study because at each different scale of observation there are different details that become more apparent.
How can Iowans help native prairies? I think the best way that Iowan can support prairies is by educating themselves about the benefits they pose. When people understand how monumental of a role they play in regulating the larger native landscape, it can encourage further progress to restore formerly native landscapes to Iowa. Buying native plants from local nurseries and reincorporating them into urbanized areas can also help to spread awareness about the beauty and resiliency of native prairie plants.
Photo credit: Dharma Fribley