Ph.D., Ecology, University of Connecticut, 2008
B.A., Biolgy, Gustavus Adolphus College, 2000
My research combines a variety of different scientific approaches to answer broad-scale conservation questions to ultimately guide policy and management decisions. In particular, my research integrates data on population genetics, demography, reproductive biology, and threats imposed by anthropogenic activities, including nitrogen deposition and habitat fragmentation. Much of my current work takes place in the Western United States, specifically Colorado and Utah. For information on current and previous research, visit Research (Link). View my CV here.
Kelly Ksiazek
www.plantbiology.northwestern.edu/students/Kelly-Ksiazek.html
phippsbotanyinaction.org/follow-the-fellows/kelly-ksiazek/
Doctoral Student, Expected 2016
Plant Biology and Conservation
Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University
M.S., December 2011
Plant Biology and Conservation
Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University
B.S., Biology, University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, 2001
The combination of increasing urbanization and climate change threatens the extinction of numerous species across the globe. Conservation scientists are trying to better understand ways we can preserve these organisms and the integrity of the habitats in which they live. One challenge associated with prairie conservation in the Chicago area is the fact that urban sprawl has reduced the amount of habitable space for many organisms. If green roofs were considered as part of the solution to conserving plant species, they could potentially be extremely useful tools in providing additional habitat, creating corridors to assist species migration, and even serve as sites for preserving native prairie species. My Master's degree research revealed that although green roofs get visited by fewer bees than adjacent sites at ground-level, native plants on green roofs are not pollen limited and are in fact capable of producing seed sets equal to or greater than ground-level populations. Through my current research, I hope to gain a greater understanding of the pollination services occurring on green roofs in the Chicago area in order to inform the field of urban ecology about green roofs' abilities to carry out ecological services. This will also highlight the feasibility of these locations serving as sites that could be used to help preserve local biodiversity in the future.
Matt Rhodes
Master's Student, Expected April 2013
Plant Biology and Conservation
Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University
B.A., Biology, Truman State University, 2010
I am a recent graduate of Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. My research interests are centered on anthropogenic threats to plant biodiversity, encompassing population genetics, reproductive ecology, biogeochemistry, demography, and seed biology. For my thesis research, I am developing a project that will examine gene flow in Oenothera harringtonii, a Colorado endemic whose habitat is increasingly disturbed by urban development, road construction and recreational activity. By integrating a paternity analysis with other techniques, I hope to identify and understand the potential long-term consequences of habitat fragmentation for this threatened species.
Wes Glisson
Coming Soon
Evan Hilpman
BA, Colorado College, 2010
Research Assistant 2008 - Present
I am a recent graduate of The Colorado College. I began fieldwork the summer following my freshman year, working with the Candace Galen (University of Missouri) lab on Pennsylvania Mountain, in central Colorado, where I worked on projects including the effects of mycorrhizae on plant development and the effect o scent augmentation on pollinators and reproductive success. Since my sophomore year in 2008, I spent most of my summers in the field with Krissa in southeastern Colorado working with Oenothera harringtonii, conducting pollinator and demographic surveys as well as collecting samples for genetic and scent analyses. I have also spent portions of the last three summers working in the lab at the Chicago Botanic Garden processing and analyzing many of the samples collected during my time in the field, which eventually became the basis of my senior thesis Genetic Analysis of a Colorado Endemic Threatened by Anthropogenic Landscape Alteration: Oenothera harringtonii (Onagraceae). In 2009, I attended the annual meeting of the Botanical Society of America in Snowbird, Utah, where I co-presented a poster on this work with Krissa. During the school year I have worked with Tass Kelso in The Colorado College herbarium, organizing, collecting and mounting herbarium specimens.Sadie Todd
BA, University of Missouri, Columbia, 2010
Research Assistant 2009 - Present
I went to the University of Missouri at Columbia. My first experience in research as a college sophomore under Dr. Candace Galen. I worked in the alpine tundra in the Rockies in Colorado. We examined the role of fragrance in an alpine wildflower, Polemonium viscosum, and its insect visitors. I spent the summer in the field doing pollinator observations, fragrance collection, and bumblebee choice tests; over the school year I worked in the lab counting pollen grains, analyzing nectar sucrose content, analyzing data, and making posters. I've worked on a few different aspects of the Oenothera Project with Krissa at the Chicago Botanic Garden. In 2008, I conducted a germination experiment with Oenothera harringtonii and in 2009, the summer of my junior year, I spent a few weeks in the field with Krissa and her students, including pollinator observations and fragrance collections. In the lab, I extracted O. harringtonii DNA from leaf tissue and collected microsatellite data. I also had an internship with Dr. Patricia Parker on avian disease ecology. Fieldwork on the Galapagos islands included mist netting birds, then measuring them and collecting blood samples. In the lab, I worked on identifying parasite DNA from liver samples of an invasive bird species to determine if that species is a vector for avian malaria. I have presented two different posters of this work at three research forums at MU and at ESA 2009. For my senior research project, I worked under Dr. Candace Galen on a project involving phototropins, light-sensing genes in plant leaves and roots. I presented a poster on this work at BSA 2010, which you can see at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex2QG7XB0Ks.
Kathleen West
Claremont McKenna College, 2012
Research Assistant, June 2012 - March 2013
Ricky Rivera - M.S., 2013
"Quantitative genetics in a fragmented landscape, a study of heritable floral traits in Oenothera harringtonii (Onagraceae)"
Plant Biology and Conservation - Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University
B.S., Biology, University of Puerto Rico, 2010
Ricky will be pursuing his PhD at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in Erika Marin-Spiotta's lab (link) in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology.
Becky Barak - M.S., 2012
"Assessing restoration potential of native forbs from cheatgrass-dominated habitats"
Plant Biology and Conservation - Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University
Princeton University, 2004, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Becky is currently a PhD student in the PBC Program (NU/CBG) in Dan Larkin's lab (link).
Emily Booth - M.S., 2011
"Potential effects of climate change on Penstemon palmeri at Zion National Park, Utah, U.S."
Plant Biology and Conservation - Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University
Currently a PhD Student in Norma Fowler's lab at the University of Texas, Austin
Melissa Gray - M.S., 2011
"The effects of floral density manipulation on the pollination and reproductive success of Penstemon pachyphyllus."
Plant Biology and Conservation - Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University
James Medina
Oberlin College, 2014
Research Intern Summer 2012, January Term 2013
Kari Spiegelhalter
Lawrence University, 2012
Research Assistant, Fall 2011
Thea Klein-Mayer
Northwestern University, 2012
Research Assistant, Spring & Summer 2010
Heather-Rose Kates
Oberlin College, 2011
CBG REU Student 2010
Carrie Klase
Warren Wilson College, 2011
CBG REU Student 2010
Quincy Roberts
Lake ForestCollege, 2009
Independent Study 2009
Logen Senack
University of Connecticut, 2008
University Scholar and Honors Student
Honor's Thesis Advisee
Research Assistant
Claudette Cassile
University of Connecticut, 2007
Honor's Student
Research Assistant
Megan Ridder
University of Connecticut, 2007
Undergraduate Garden Club of America Scholar
Research Assistant
Pictures of Undergraduate Students:
Logan and Krissa at the University Scholar poster
session where Logan presented work from his
Honor's thesis. 2008.
Carrie doing early morning pollinator observations
in the field - Comanche National Grasslands, 2009.
Claudette at one of the remaining field sites of
D. cuspidatumin New England, 2006
email: kskogen@chicagobotanic.org phone: (847) 835-6919
the Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022.
all content © Krissa Skogen 2010
the Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022.
all content © Krissa Skogen 2010
