Rochelle Davis
2022 Lyme Land Trust Volunteer of the Year

“ 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.” 

~Sue Cope, Lyme Land Trust Environmental Director

Rochelle Davis, volunteer steward of the Grassy Hill Preserve, was awarded the 2022 Lyme Land Trust Volunteer of the Year Award at the Annual Meeting on June 17. During the last two years, Rochelle has 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 wildlife. She single-handedly removed dense thickets of invasives including autumn olive trees and multiflora bushes.  At home she propagates native plants from seeds to replant in the Preserve. She 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. So far over 130 flora and fauna observations have been documented. She regularly walks the preserve and actively manages what is growing. She has gone above and beyond what we ask of a steward.

Rochelle has also actively participated in our project Imagining Lyme – A Visual Exploration of Lyme’s Preserves since its inception two years ago. She has submitted 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.