Julián Aguirre-Santoro

Julián Aguirre-Santoro

Assistant Curator of Vascular Plants, Latin America Herbarium, Missouri Botanical Garden

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

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

John Brinda

Assistant Scientist, Herbarium, Missouri Botanical Garden

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

Justin Elden

Curator of Herpetology & Aquatics, Saint Louis Zoo

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

Martha Fischer

General Curator and Director of WildCare Institute Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa, Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Park

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

Michael Frachetti

Professor of Archaeology, WashU

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

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

Erik Herzog

Erik Herzog

Professor of Biology and Neuroscience, Viktor Hamburger Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, WashU

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

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

Nisa Karimi

Nisa Karimi

Assistant Scientist, Science and Conservation Division, Africa and Madagascar Program, Missouri Botanical Garden

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

Elizabeth (Lisa) Kelley

Executive Director-WildCare, Director-Center for Conservation in Madagascar, Saint Louis Zoo

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

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

Jim Miller

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

Travis Mossotti

Assistant Director IT Research Systems, WashU

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

Jamie Palmer

Technician, Wildlife Biologist, Institute for Conservation Medicine, Saint Louis Zoo

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

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

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

Adam Smith

Adam Smith

Scientist in Global Change & Conservation, Missouri Botanical Garden

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

Alan Templeton

Charles Rebstock Professor Emeritus of Biology, WashU

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

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

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