Peter Bernhardt

Peter Bernhardt

Research Associate of Missouri Botanical Garden

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

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

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

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

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

Roy Gereau

Roy Gereau

Assistant Curator and Tanzania Program Director, Missouri Botanical Garden

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Floristics, plant taxonomy, and plant conservation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Tanzania

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

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

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

Ben Jellen

Ben Jellen

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy

Primary subject(s) of interest: The ecology, physiology, behavior, learning, and conservation of amphibians, reptiles and birds

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Central and eastern Missouri and central and southern Illinois

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Freshwater, Urban areas

Kim Medley

Kim Medley

Director, Tyson Research Center, WashU

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States (Missouri)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Freshwater, Urban areas

LEC Seed Grant Projects

Bob Merz

Bob Merz

Assistant Director, Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Critically endangered American burying beetle
(Nicrophorus americanus)

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  United States (Midwest Region)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland

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

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

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

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

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

Li-Bing Zhang

Li-Bing Zhang

Curator, Missouri Botanical Garden

Primary subject(s) of interest: Taxonomy, phylogeny, and evolution of ferns and lycophytes

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Old World/Global

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Shrubland, Grassland, Caves and subterranean habitats