Deserts

Julián Aguirre-Santoro
Assistant Curator of Vascular Plants, Latin America Herbarium, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Email: jaguirre-santoro@mobot.org
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

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

John Brinda
Assistant Scientist, Herbarium, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Email: john.brinda@mobot.org
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

Justin Elden
Curator of Herpetology & Aquatics, Saint Louis Zoo
- Email: elden@stlzoo.org
Primary subject(s) of interest: Herpetology, Conservation Biology, Cave Biology
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Via the Saint Louis Zoo(Missouri, Armenia, Ecuador) and externally (Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ukraine, Puerto Rico)
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Freshwater, Caves and subterranean habitats, Deserts, Urban areas, Zoos

Martha Fischer
General Curator and Director of WildCare Institute Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa, Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Park
- Email: Fischer@stlzoo.org
Primary subject(s) of interest: All Horn if Africa wildlife including Grevy's zebra, hirola, black rhino, mountain nyala, giraffe, African wild ass, and Ethiopian wolf; southeast Asian wildlife, such as banteng; local Missouri wildlife and urban biodiversity
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Horn of Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somaliland
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Savanna, Grassland, Deserts, Urban areas
LEC Seed Grant Projects

Michael Frachetti
Professor of Archaeology, WashU
- Email: frachetti@wustl.edu
Primary subject(s) of interest: Anthropology, Archaeology, Asia, Human Ecology, Grassland ecology, Tropical jungles
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Asia-Pacific (Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal)
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Grassland, Deserts, Urban areas, Mountains

Gayle Fritz
Professor Emerita of Archaeology, WashU
- Email: gjfritz@wustl.edu
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

Erik Herzog
Professor of Biology and Neuroscience, Viktor Hamburger Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, WashU
- Email: herzog@biology.wustl.edu
Primary subject(s) of interest: Circadian rhythms, light pollution, preterm birth, brain cancer
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Deserts, Urban areas

Nathan Jacobs
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering, WashU
- Email: jacobsn@wustl.edu
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

Nisa Karimi
Assistant Scientist, Science and Conservation Division, Africa and Madagascar Program, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Email: nkarimi@mobot.org
Primary subject(s) of interest: Plant ecology & evolution, pollination biology, conservation
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Madagascar, Tanzania, South Africa
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Deserts

Elizabeth (Lisa) Kelley
Executive Director-WildCare, Director-Center for Conservation in Madagascar, Saint Louis Zoo
- Email: lkelley@stlzoo.org
Primary subject(s) of interest: Coordinating wildlife programs and evaluation, wildlife conservation, anthropology, primatology, lemurs
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Madagascar, global
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savana, Deserts
LEC Projects

Haijun Liu
Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Saint Louis University
- Email: haijun.liu@slu.edu
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

Jim Miller
Retired, Missouri Botanical Garden
Primary subject(s) of interest: Natural products research, systematics of Boraginaceae, flora of Madagascar
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Africa (Madagascar), South America
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Deserts
LEC Seed Grant Projects

Travis Mossotti
Assistant Director IT Research Systems, WashU
- Email: travis.mossotti@wustl.edu
Primary subject(s) of interest: Poetry & Environmental Stewardship; Interdisciplinary Conservation Programming; Language of Conservation
Primary geographic interest: United States
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Shrubland, Grassland, Freshwater, Marine, Deserts, Urban areas

Jamie Palmer
Technician, Wildlife Biologist, Institute for Conservation Medicine, Saint Louis Zoo
- Email: jpalmer@stlzoo.org
Primary subject(s) of interest: Conservation Medicine, One Health, Wildlife Health, Herpetology
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Freshwater, Deserts, Urban areas, Zoos

Nezka Pfeifer
Museum Curator, Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Email: npfeifer@mobot.org
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

Odean Serrano
Founder, Countering Wildlife Trafficking Institute
- Email: odean@cwtinstitute.org
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

Adam Smith
Scientist in Global Change & Conservation, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Email: adam.smith@mobot.org
Primary subject(s) of interest: Conservation biogeography and global change, using statistical models of populations, species, and ecosystems
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Deserts, Agricultural land
LEC Seed Grant Projects

Alan Templeton
Charles Rebstock Professor Emeritus of Biology, WashU
- Email: temple_a@wustl.edu
Primary subject(s) of interest: Endangered salamanders, reintroduction of wild ass, conservation genetics, landscape genetics and restoration of collared lizards
Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Israel (Midreshet Ben-Gurion); United States (Glade communities in the Ozarks)
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Savanna, Grassland, Deserts

Thomas Valone
Professor of Biology, Saint Louis University
Primary subject of interest: Ecology, Desertification, Communities and behaviors
Primary geographic area of interest: United States (Arizona)
Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Grassland, Deserts

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