Biodiversity Fellows

Primary subject of interest: Urban ecology, disease ecology, ticks, birds, small mammals

Primary geographic interest: Midwest and mid-Atlantic US

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Land Management Effects on Microbiome Diversity in Disease Vectors

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Plant systematics and floristics

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Colombia, Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Deserts

Primary subject of interest: Plant conservation, threatened plants and communities

Primary geographic interest: Ozarks and Southeastern US

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Conserving Rare Plant Species through Ecological Restoration in Missouri Woodlands

Primary subject of interest: Herpetology, conservation

Primary geographic area of interest: Guam, Mexico

Primary subject of interest: Population ecology and conservation, herpetology

Primary geographic area of interest: Saint Louis

Primary subject of interest: Conservation medicine, one health

Primary geographic interest: Global

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Expanding the Toolset for Chelonian Conservation: Understanding the Diversity, Distribution and Dynamics of Box Turtle Microbiomes

Primary subject of interest: Plant taxonomy, medicinal plants, natural product discovery

Primary geographic interest: United States, Madagascar

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest ,Savanna, Shrubland

Primary subject of interest: Reproductive and behavioral sciences

Primary geographic area of interest: Latin America,  Mexico

Primary subject of interest: Bryology

Primary geographic area of interest: North America

Primary subject(s) of interest: Herbaria, global change biology, hyperspectral botany, phenology, ecology

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Urban Areas, Botanic Gardens and Herbaria

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Animal behavior

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Zoos

Primary subject of interest: Population genetics and plant conservation

Primary geographic area of interest: United States

Primary subject(s) of interest: All species, especially canids and ungulates; reproduction, wildlife technologies

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Ex situ, North America, global

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Zoos

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Evolutionary, molecular, and genetic analyses of animal behavior and sociality; The genetics of organismal resilience to environmental stress; Drosophila models of neuronal and psychiatric disorders

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global

Primary subject(s) of interest: Conservation genetics, herpetology

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global

Primary subject(s) of interest: Pollination; Anthophilous insects (bees, beetles, syrphid flies, butterflies and moths); flowering plant groups (orchids and other petaloid monocots), montane wildflowers of the Himalayas; Proteaceae of Australia; plant systematics and phytogeography of the floras of southern Australia; redbuds and dogwoods of Missouri; pollination in urban versus rural flora native to North America; popular illustrations and depictions of flora and their pollinators from the 19th-21st century; the history of the writings of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries on floral adaptation/evolution; bee diversity on rural versus urban trees of redbud (Cercis canadensis) and dogwood (Cornus florida) in St. Louis and its counties

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  United States (Saint Louis, Missouri, Kansas), Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia), China (Kunming, Lijiang and Yulong (Yunnan))

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savana, Shrubland, Grassland, Montane>3000m

Primary subject of interest: Management of protected areas (including sustainable use of natural resources, forest restoration, monitoring, control of invasive plant species) and ex-situ plant conservation (including field gene-banks)

Primary geographic interest: Madagascar

Primary subject(s) of interest: Ecology and conservation of mega vertebrates

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Congo Basin, Galapagos Islands, Central Africa, Saint Louis, MO

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban areas

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Going Wild in Forest Park: Tracking the Movement of Wildlife and Disease in an Urban Food Web

Primary subject(s) of interest: Plant systematics, floristics, molecular systematics, anatomy, microscopy, ecology, sustainability, palynology, teaching

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: USA, Mexico

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest:  Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Deserts, Agricultural land, Urban areas

Primary subject(s) of interest: Virology and virus ecology

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  USA

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Land Management Effects on Microbiome Diversity in Disease Vectors

Primary subject of interest:  Microbial Ecology, Climate Change, Climate Action

Primary geographic interest:  United States, Puerto Rico, Argentina, India

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Palm oil sustainability, public education, local conservation

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Tropical rainforests, Forests, Agricultural land, Urban areas

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Climate change education, enhancing biodiversity, community-based conservation engagement, nature-based education, urban biodiversity

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Saint Louis region (Missouri)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Urban biodiversity

Primary subject of interest: Ecology, taxonomy, and conservation of bryophytes

Primary geographic area of interest: USA, Madagascar, Philippines

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Deserts

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Science and Literature in Latin America, Ecocriticism

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Argentina, Chile, Uruguay

Primary subject(s) of interest: Plant diversity and evolution, systematics, phylogenomics, pollination biology

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Neotropics (emphasis on Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Brazil)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Floral Scent Differentiation as a Mechanism for Pollinator Partitioning in the Genus Anthurium (Araceae)

Primary subject(s) of interest: Sensory and evolutionary neuroscience in electric fish

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Sub-Saharan Africa

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Freshwater

Primary subject(s) of interest: Youth civic engagement and place-based education

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Freshwater

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Biodiversity of Freshwater Mussels of the Upper Sangamon River (Illinois): Community Science in Action
• Collaborating with Community Scientists to Improve Conservation: A Case Study with Bee Visitation Networks

Primary subject(s) of interest: Systematics and Ecology of Araceae; Phenology of flowering and fruiting in tropical ecosystems

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Neotropics

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest ,Shrubland, Grassland, Agricultural land

Primary subject(s) of interest:  (1) Understanding how diverse microbiomes respond to chemical and biological perturbations, (2) harnessing these insights to rationally design therapeutic strategies to curtail antibiotic-resistant pathogens and remedy pathological microbiome states, and (3) engineering microbial catalysts to convert renewable biomass into value chemicals such as biofuels and pharmaceuticals.

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States, El Salvador, Peru, Pakistan, Niger, South Africa, Republic of Congo, Netherlands, China, India

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Freshwater, Agricultural lands, Urban areas, Built environment