David R. Holdridge, a forester, has been awarded a Fulbright US Student Research grant to investigate linking the palm oil industry with the reclamation of abandoned surface tin mines on the Bangka Belitung Islands. He seeks to examine the effects of palm oil fruit bunch mulch on the properties of mined soils alongside the associated economic and social dimensions. For this project, he partners with Universitas Bangka Belitung.

David recently earned his bachelor’s degree in forestry with a concentration in restoration and conservation science from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. His professional focus lies in the restoration of degraded landscapes.