Stephen Blake

Stephen Blake

Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Saint Louis University

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

David Bogler

David Bogler

Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden

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

Emily Bowling

Emily Bowling

Conservation Education Liaison, Saint Louis Zoo

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

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

Tom Croat

Tom Croat

P.A. Schulze Curator of Botany, Latin America, Missouri Botanical Garden

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

Gautam Dantas

Gautam Dantas

Conan Professor in Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, WashU School of Medicine

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

Karen DeMatteo

Karen DeMatteo

Research Affiliate, WildCare Institute at the Saint Louis Zoo / Academic Advisor, Biology Department, WashU / Conservation Detection Dog Handler/Trainer, A K9 Nose Knows

Primary subject(s) of interest: Ecology, conservation, and management of predator-prey species using noninvasive techniques

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States (South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Nebraska, and San Francisco), South America (Argentina), & Asia (Bhutan)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Shrubland, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban areas, Monocultural plantations & fragmented ecosystems

Aimee Dunlap

Aimee Dunlap

Associate Professor, Biology Department, University of Missouri-Saint Louis

Primary subject(s) of interest: Cognitive, behavioral, and urban ecology, mechanisms of decision making, pollination and foraging in bees and flies

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

Kate Farley

Kate Farley

Assistant Scientist, William L. Brown Center

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Ethnobotany, traditional ecological knowledge, community-based conservation, North American biodiversity, invasive species

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States (Appalachia, the Ozarks)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Agricultural land

Kasey Fowler-Finn

Kasey Fowler-Finn

Associate Professor of Biology, Saint Louis University

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Evolutionary ecology, behavioral ecology, vibrational communication, biotremology, climate change, evolution of complex traits, animal communication

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Saint Louis, Eastern North America

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

Gayle Fritz

Gayle Fritz

Professor Emerita of Archaeology, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest: Agriculture, plant domestication, archaeobotany, ethnobotany, and conservation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Mexico, United States (Mississippi River valley, St Louis Metro area, SE and Southwest US)

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

Theresa Gildner

Theresa Gildner

Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest: Human biology, parasitology, host-pathogen coevolution, immune function

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Ecuador, United States

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Agricultural land, Urban areas, Rainforest

Robbie Hart

Robbie Hart

Director, William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden

Primary subject(s) of interest: Climate change impacts on plant ecology and human environmental knowledge systems; ethnobotany; montane and alpine; Madagascar; community-based conservation; food plants

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Himalaya; Hengduan/Mountains of Southwest China; Pacific Northwest; Madagascar

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

LEC Projects

LEC Seed Grant Projects

Julie Hartell-DeNardo

Julie Hartell-DeNardo

Kevin Beckmann Curator of Carnivores and WildCare Center for Polar Bear Conservation Director, Saint Louis Zoo

Primary subject(s) of interest: Carnivore conservation, Carnidae, Felidae, Ursidae, Canidea, Pinnipedia

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Africa (Namibia, Somaliland, Tanzania, Kenya), Alaska

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

Sarah Holaday

Sarah Holaday

Director of Animal Care & Conservation, Endangered Wolf Center

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Conservation

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Agricultural land

Nathan Jacobs

Nathan Jacobs

Professor, Computer Science & Engineering, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Computer Vision, Remote Sensing, Species Distribution Modeling

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

Haijun Liu

Haijun Liu

Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Saint Louis University

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Photosynthetic microbes, photosynthesis adaptation mechanisms, coral bleaching, natural light energy harvesting diversity

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: USA, global (marine, coral symbiont dinoflagellates), Mideast (Israel)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Freshwater, Deserts, Agricultural land

Xinyi Liu

Xinyi Liu

Associate Professor of Archaeology, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest: Archaeology of Food, Domestication, Paleoenvironment, Food Globalization

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: China, Tibetan Plateau, Kazakhstan, Central America

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Grassland, Agricultural land, High altitude environment

LEC Seed Grant Projects

Krista Milich

Krista Milich

Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Non-human primates, reproductive ecology, behavioral endocrinology, zoonotic disease, community conservation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: East Africa and South America

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Agricultural land

LEC Projects

LEC Seed Grant Projects

Sara Miller

Sara Miller

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, UMSL

Primary subject(s) of interest: Diversification in social insects, evolutionary ecology, and population genetics, urban ecology

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:   USA (Missouri)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Agricultural land, Urban areas

Kenneth Olsen

Kenneth Olsen

Professor of Biology, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest: Plant evolution, ecological genomics, evolution of crops and wild relatives

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: North America, East Asia, Southeast Asia

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Agricultural land

LEC Seed Grant Projects

Nezka Pfeifer

Nezka Pfeifer

Museum Curator, Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum, Missouri Botanical Garden

Primary subject(s) of interest: Museum studies, museum exhibitions, history, contemporary art, anthropology, conservation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: All

Amy Pool

Amy Pool

Curatorial Assistant, Latin America, Missouri Botanical Garden

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Floristics, sharing science, the importance of biodiversity and conservation, and the significance of global climate change with the local public, plant taxonomy, natural history collections use and curation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Central America

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Agricultural land, Collection-based

Jill Richardson

Jill Richardson

Lecturer in Sociocultural Anthropology, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Governance of natural resources, environmental social movements, race and ethnicity

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States (Northern Rocky Mountains), Kenya

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Agricultural land

Barbara Schaal

Barbara Schaal

Professor of Biology, Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Evolutionary genetics of plants, molecular evolution of genetics, systematics, and quantitative genetics

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

Odean Serrano

Odean Serrano

Founder, Countering Wildlife Trafficking Institute

Primary subject(s) of interest: Environmental Security, Transnational Threats, Intelligence Fusion Analytics

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global, Central African Republic, Madagascar, United States, Mali*, Burkina Faso (*Support research remotely from US)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Freshwater, Marine, Caves and subterranean habitats, Deserts, Agricultural land, Urban areas

Ed Spevak

Ed Spevak

Curator of Invertebrates, Saint Louis Zoo

Primary subject of interest: Pollinators, native bee conservation, Native American reservations

Primary geographic interest: Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Grassland, Agricultural land, Zoos

LEC Seed Grant Projects

Joe Steensma

Joe Steensma

Professor, Brown School, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Environmental health, sustainability, food, security, and biodiversity

Primary geographic interest: Costa Rica, Nigeria, Australia, the United Kingdom, United States

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Grassland, Freshwater, Agricultural land

LEC Seed Grant Projects

Mikhail Tikhonov

Mikhail Tikhonov

Assistant Professor of Physics, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest: Ecosystem coarse-grainability, Emergent simplicity, Microbial eco/evo, Statistical physics

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Lab ecosystem, USA field samples, Global surveys

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Marine, Agricultural land

Emily Warschefsky

Emily Warschefsky

Alice Brown Curator & Associate Scientist, William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden

Primary subject(s) of interest: Plant domestication and evolution, phylogenomics, population genomics, hybridization

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, United States

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

Tad Yankoski

Tad Yankoski

Senior Entomologist, Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, Missouri Botanical Garden

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Insect biodiversity and conservation, citizen science, insect husbandry

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Global, with a focus on animals of the tropics (Costa Rica) and USA (Missouri)

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

Xuehua Zhong

Xuehua Zhong

Professor of Biology, WashU

Primary subject(s) of interest: Epigenetics, Climate change, Plant adaptation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  United States, Asia, China

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Agricultural land