LAB TEAM
Current Members & Alumni
MARS GALLEGO
M.S. Student
Pronouns: They/Theirs
Mars is working on the metabolomics of Commiphora.
Madeleine Gagliano
M.S. Student
Pronouns:
Madeleine is working on the reproductive biology of Astragalus distortus (Ozark Milkvetch, Fabaceaea).
ANNA SOPHIA CLINE
M.S. Student
Pronouns:
Anna Sophia is working on a floristic survey and biological illustration of Gilbert's Corner in Loudoun Co., Virginia for public outreach and education.
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EMILY POINDEXTER
M.S. Student
Emily is working on the conservation genetics of Ozark milkvetch, Astragalus distortus, which is a Critically Imperiled species in the Mid-Atlantic.
BETSY COLLINS
Ph.D. Candidate
Betsy is working on the continental phylogeography of Palo Santo, Bursera graveolens, with support from the National Geographic, the Cosmos Club, and crowd-funding from Experiment.com.
DALIA AGUILAR
Undergraduate Intern - graduated
Dalia is interning as a field botanist for the Gilbert's Corner project and is supported by a grant from Virginia Native Plant Society.
ADRIAN HAGERTY
Undergraduate Intern - graduated
Adrian joined the lab as a summer intern and is continuing in the herbarium to assist collections-based research.
MATTHEW SHEIK
M.S., graduated
Pronouns: He/Him
Matthew graduated in Fall 2022 and is now a Herbarium Curatorial Assistant at the Denver Botanic Gardens. He joined the Lab in Fall 2020, completed a checklist flora of Shenandoah River State Park in Warren Co. for his thesis (check out his collections on iNaturalist!) and was the GRA for the LFCC NSF CSBR grant.
SABIHA BASIT
NSF REPS intern (2021-2022)
As an NSF REPS post-baccalaurate researcher, she investigatied how to extend LFCC herbarium specimens for biogeographic and plant conservation studies in Virginia. Sabiha is now a public high-school biology teacher.
AMELIA FULLER
Undergraduate Intern - graduated
Amelia is interning as a herbarium curatorial assistant on the LFCC project as part of her INTS490 course.
CAMERON PIERCE
B.S., graduated
Cameron completed the Garden Club of America Joan K. Hunt and Rachel M. Hunt Summer Scholarship in Field Botany at Gilbert's Corner in Summer 2020 and now works in pharmaceutical consulting.
ELIZABETH MCMURCHIE
M.S., graduated
Elizabeth is now a Ph.D. student at Iowa State University studying bamboos.
MORGAN GOSTEL
Ph.D., graduated
Morgan is now a research scientist at BRIT.
MARYAM SEDAGHATPOUR
B.S., graduated
Maryam is now a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley studying the plant biodiversity of the Eastern Mediterranean & Levant.
KAROLINE OLDHAM
M.S., graduated
Karoline now works in the private sector as a data analyst.
KRISTEN (BAIRD) HOEFKE
M.S., graduated
Kristen now works at USGS as a biologist.
SARA ALEXANDER
M.S., graduated
Sara works for the National Museum of Natural History.
JAMIE MINNAERT
B.S., graduated
Jamie is now the herbarium collection manager at Illinois Natural History Survey.
ANDREW JENKINS
B.S., graduated
Drew earned an M.S. and now teaches at Appalachian State University.
ANDREA WEEKS
Principal Investigator
Pronouns: She/Her
Botanist, Dogwalker, Knitter.