Plant Science: Areas of interest

Conservation Science

2007 Interns and Volunteers

Intern Elaine Kneller

Student Sophia Liarakos

Volunteer Phyllis Baer

Heather Lynn Lindon
B.S. The College of William and Mary

My internship involves working on the Millennium Seed Bank project for the Chicago Region. The goal of the project, which was started at Royal Botanic Kew is to collect at least 10 percent of the world's seed by the year 2010. My role in this five-year project is to help the Chicago Botanic Garden get started on its collection of seeds from about 1,500 native Illinois species. This involves researching public lands, nature preserves and prairie remnants where populations of the target species can be found, applying for permits to collect the seed from those sites, and actually collecting the seed and data about the populations. I also assist other scientists and interns with their research, and I often make collecting trips to other states.

I graduated from the College of William and Mary in the spring of 2003 with a degree in biology. I concentrated on plant classes and hope to pursue a more advanced degree in some aspect of plant sciences, most likely conservation, ethnobotany or a combination of the two.

Contact Information
(847) 835-6972

Kathryn Theiss
B.A. Willamette University

My internship with the Conservation Science Department focuses on plant demographics under the advisement of Pati Vitt. I am responsible for monitoring the responses of the rare dog violet, Viola conspersa, toward different management strategies. During the summer, I supervised two College First students who assisted me in data collection. Data from this project are used in the Plants of Concern project, coordinated by Susanne Masi. I am responsible for analysis of both the Viola conspersa and Cypripredium candidum data.

In order to better understand the reproductive biology of Viola conspersa, I am examining the development of the open-pollinated (chasmogamous) flowers and self-pollinated (cleistogamous) flowers as well as potential cross-incompatibilities. There is also some evidence of putative hybridization between V. conspersa and other local violets, and I plan to use genetic analysis to examine this question. Another part of my internship involves a pilot study of growth-rate differences between three species of Polygonum to investigate how growth rate affects the commonality of a species.

I received a B.A. in May 2003 from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where I majored in biology and French. I performed field work on Nepenthes madagascariensis while studying in Madagascar and subsequently completed my senior research looking at development in another species of Nepenthes. Collaboration with my undergraduate advisor on pollinator guilds of Asclepias focused my interest on reproductive biology of plants, specifically plant-pollinator interactions.

After completing my internship at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I plan to pursue a doctorate concentrating on the ecology of endangered plants.

Contact Information
(847) 835-6972

Conservation Science Department Volunteers

Richard Aishton — Data entry and reports, Herbarium
Phyllis Baer — Plant mounting, Herbarium
Mary Borecki — Plant mounting and records, Herbarium; field assistance
Jim Jacobs — Herbarium
Ling-Ling Wei — Tissue culture