Northeastern professor Randall Hughes was elected a 2024 lifetime fellow at American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Northeastern University professor Randall Hughes made her first big discovery researching eelgrass on the West Coast.
Hughes, professor of marine and environmental sciences, shifted the focus of her scientific investigation to salt marsh plant species when she moved to Florida.
In the Northeast, her current research focuses on increasing the effectiveness of restoration efforts by understanding how bringing plants from a different coastal system affects the evolutionary makeup of the recipient system.
Hughes has worked on both U.S. coasts during her career, allowing her to develop expertise in multiple habitats, including oyster reefs, seagrasses and salt marshes.
In recognition of her career, the American Association for the Advancement of Science named Hughes one of its 2024 lifetime fellows. She was awarded the fellowship for her contributions in biological sciences for developing a fundamental understanding of the role of genetic diversity in the conservation and restoration of species that define ecosystems.
“One of the things I appreciate about the AAAS recognition is that it’s about a body of work,” Hughes says. “You really have to have built up knowledge in an area. I’ve been able to do that by working with great collaborators, colleagues and, especially, my postdocs and students, who’ve really contributed to what we’ve been able to do over the years.”
Hughes is among 471 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 disciplinary sections to receive the distinguished honor this year. The AAAS is one of the world’s largest general scientific communities. It aims to provide actionable evidence for public policies that serve society and promote quality science.
While attending graduate school, Hughes researched eelgrass, which often spreads by creating “clones” — new shoots from the same genetic material. She found that having more genetic diversity in habitat-forming species like eelgrass helps ecosystems stay resistant against environmental changes.
Hughes made this discovery after the eelgrass she had planted for an experiment in Bodega Bay, California, was heavily grazed by geese. Although the experiment looked ruined, she says, the plots with a richer clone diversity of eelgrass recovered more rapidly due to better disturbance resistance.
“It was very unexpected,” Hughes says. “But it taught us a lot about how that system worked.”
These findings were critically important for understanding conservation and restoration. They suggest that mitigation efforts involving planting seagrass meadows or restoring other key species need to include diverse genotypes to support long-term survival amid changing conditions.
Hughes moved to Florida and refocused her research on salt marsh plant species that also grow clones.
“I’ve always been curious about what similarities or differences are across these different systems,” she says. “Rather than specialize in one, I find it really interesting to think about what insights I can get from the comparison across systems.”
Having accumulated scientific knowledge about various ecosystems, Hughes now applies her ideas to real-world scale projects, making recommendations on ecosystems management and restoration efforts. She now collaborates with various stakeholders, including community organizations and environmental justice groups.
Understanding how social, ecological and evolutionary factors vary across ecosystems, Hughes says, can guide small, intentional adjustments in restoration and stewardship of those systems, making these efforts more successful.
“If we’re taking plants from Massachusetts, that’s one thing,” Hughes says. “But maybe they’re coming from New Jersey or Maryland. That’s very different ecologically and evolutionarily than how those systems develop naturally.”
At the same time, Hughes says, we should not rely on restoration too much.
“In my opinion, it’s best to conserve as much as we can and then restore as we need to as opposed to relying on restoration as sort of a strategy to let us destroy as much as we want to and think that we can just rebuild it somewhere else,” she says.