About me
Assistant Professor of Botany
Murray State University

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My research aims to explore questions regarding speciation processes and adaptations in plant species at the nexus between population genomics and phylogenetics. In particular, I am fascinated with the myriad of modifications during gametophytogenesis in plants and how that effects the survival and adaptation of a species.

I am currently starting as an Assistant Professor of Botany at Murray State University in Kentucky. I will be the Curator of the Murray State herbarium and running my own plant systematics lab.

I served the Department of Botany in the University of Wisconsin Madison as their Director of Botany Garden & Greenhouses from November 2017 to July 2024. During this time I also held a courtesy position as a Research Associate at the Florida Museum of Natural History. 

For 5 years prior to Madison, I held a volunteer position as a Research Botanist at the University and Jepson Herbaria at the University of California-Berkeley. For two of those years, I was laboratory manager for Dr. Carl Rothfels where we explored questions of plant systematics of ferns and lycophytes.

Prior to being a lab manager at Berkeley, I completed a 2-year appointment as the David Burpee Plant Genetics post-doctorate at Bucknell University under the supervision of Dr. Chris Martine. 

Before California or Pennsylvania, I spent two years with Pam and Doug Soltis on Team Trag (2010-2012) at the University of Florida Department of Biology and the Florida Museum of Natural History. The model system of Tragopogon is a spectacular set of data to work with. I continue to do research on Tragopogon and hold a Research Associate courtesy position at the FMNH.

I completed my Dr. Nat. (PhD in German terms) in 2009, and was driven to study polyploidy in plants. I obtained my doctorate in Natural Sciences at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, where I was part of a Brassicaceae group under Professor Dr. Marcus A. Koch in biodiversity and molecular systematics of Draba L.

I am a Nebraska native, where I completed two bachelor of science degrees, horticulture and chemistry (2000), and my biology master of science (2005) at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Check out my stint being successful in crowd-funding my field expedition to the Rocky Mountains and the Yukon using www.experiment.com. My next round of field trips is to head to various localities in north-central U.S.A.

CURRENT ADDRESS
Murray State University
Department of Biology
Murray, KY

EDUCATION
Dec. 2009 - PhD in Biology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg Institute for Plant Science (HIP), Germany              

May 2005 - M.Sc. in Biology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, U.S.A.  

May 2000 - B.Sc. in Chemistry, UNL, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry, U.S.A.

May 2000 - B.Sc. in Horticultural Science, UNL, School of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Department of Horticulture, U.S.A.

CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Assistant Professor, Murray State University


RECENT PAST AFFILIATIONS
Director of Botany Garden and Greenhouse,
        University of Wisconsin- Madison
Research Associate, Florida Museum of Natural History,
        University of Florida​

CURRENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICE POSITIONS
American Society of Plant Taxonomists

• Secretary 2023-2026​​

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Useful Links

Botany Garden and Greenhouse​
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dept. of Botany
​​Bucknell University
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Heidelberg Center for Organismal Studies
University of California Berkeley - University and Jepson Herbaria
Missouri Botanical Gardens -Tropicos database
Botanical Society of America
American Society of Plant Taxonomy