I am a teacher at Badger High School in Lake Geneva, WI as well as a grad student pursuing a doctorate in education from Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI.
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Interests
I’m interested in developing a high school environmental studies curriculum focused on prairie fragmentation and restoration. My goal is to learn a range of field research and data collection techniques, as well as explore the investigative questions pursued by Team Echinacea’s graduate and undergraduate researchers. I hope to use these questions as anchoring phenomena to teach core concepts in ecology and environmental science. I also plan to bring these methods back to my students at Badger High School, where we have access to a nearby prairie in a state park that could serve as a local field site for authentic, hands-on learning.
Statement
I’m a high school science teacher at my alma mater, Badger High School in Lake Geneva, WI, where I teach Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Environmental Science, and Chemistry. I came to education through a nontraditional path—earning a degree in Medical Microbiology and Immunology from UW–Madison and conducting research in the Bacteriology Department and Carbone Cancer Center before pursuing my Master’s in Education. I’ve now completed nine years in the classroom and am currently a doctoral student in K–12 Leadership at Alverno College. My dissertation focuses on advancing science literacy equity for historically marginalized students, including those with IEPs, multilingual learners, and students experiencing economic hardship. I also coach softball, advise the environmental club, and support my family’s restaurant in a variety of roles in Delavan, WI (Fire2Fork) where my husband is a chef!
I am a rising junior majoring in biological sciences at North Carolina State University.
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Interests
I am broadly interested biological research. I enjoy investigating how living things are affected by their physical environments, and especially how climate change is impacting them.
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I have lived in North Carolina my entire life, and I enjoy adventuring out and experiencing new places. In my free time I enjoy hiking, camping, observing wildlife, and cooking dishes from different cultures.
I am an undergraduate at the University of California Santa Cruz, where I’m going into my third year in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I am an REU intern with the Echinacea Project.
Pronouns: she/they
Research Interests
I am interested in plant community ecology and entomology–particularly plant-insect interactions. I am also very interested in gaining experience with restoration methods.
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I’ve lived in northern California throughout my life, and currently go to school on the central coast, so I’m very excited to spend the summer exploring the prairie! In my free time, I enjoy reading, drawing, knitting, and juggling.
I am a freshman at the University of Minnesota Morris majoring in Chemistry.
Pronouns: He/Him
Research Interests
I’m interested in learning new abilities while also recieving new knowledge about the place that surrounds me. I think is very important to know where you are in the world and know about the wonderful things that are around you!
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I am originally from Zacatlan, Puebla, Mexico and I lived there until June 2023 when I moved to Morris, Minnesota. I enjoy playing video games, hanging out with my friends, drinking coffee, reading and exploring new places, I also really like theater, robotics, and speech. I think the worst thing you can do is miss in an opportunity to learn new things and meet new people. I am very excited to be part of the Echinacea Project!
I am a student at Alexandria Area Highschool. I am going to be a Senior for the 2025-2026 school year.
Pronouns: He/Him
Research Interests
This summer I hope to learn more about plant biology and evolution. I have lived here all my life and I do not know much about the land around me, but I am excited to learn.
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I am from Alexandria, Minnesota, and I have lived here all my life. After high school I hope to attend the University of Minnesota Twin Cities for Mechanical Engineering. I have been involved in the outdoors for most of my life. I am an Eagle Scout as of 6/15/2025 from Troop 496 Carlos/Miltona. When I am not in the field I enjoy playing violin, throwing on the pottery wheel, working out, and biking.
I am a post-baccalaureate research intern with the Echinacea Project and will be moving between the University of Minnesota and the Chicago Botanic Garden. I graduated in May 2025 from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Environmental Science and Biology. My research with the Echinacea Project will be focused on the experimental plots.
Pronouns: she/her
Research Interests
I’m interested in all sorts of plant ecology. I especially am interested in plant-pollinator interactions and fire ecology. I hope to learn more about conservation and restoration efforts in prairie ecosystems.
Statement
I am from New Jersey and went to college in South Carolina. In college, I was a researcher for a plant/insect ecology lab and I studied abroad in Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, and the Galapagos Islands. I did my honors thesis on the effects of humidity on the attachment strength of mucilaginous seeds, a seed trait found all across the world. I am a fan of all sorts of creatures and often pause to take pictures of everything. I like to read, bake, nap, and catch lizards.
I’m the outgoing lead research assistant on the Echinacea Project. I started as an REU student in 2021, stuck around to work in the lab, came back for summers in the intern role, and got a master’s degree out of the arrangement, to boot! This June marks four years for me with Team Echinacea, and it was four years well spent. I’ll be moving to the San Francisco Bay Area later this summer, and will dearly miss the summer crew, the field work, and the prairie. But I’m looking forward to seeing everyone the first week and wishing you a fantastic summer! Don’t be a stranger, now.
Pronouns: she/her
Research Interests
My thesis focused on the heritability of fire-stimulated flowering in Echinacea, which I think is pretty neat. I enjoyed using our awesome experimental plots to look into how parent and offspring plants might be behaving similarly (or not!) in response to burns. And of course, fire itself is an amazingly cool experimental treatment. How lucky I’ve been to work with it. In general, I’m interested in population dynamics, cue-based/synchronized reproduction (masting, and more?), and fire ecology.
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I’m from Chanhassen, MN, but I’ve spent the last 6 school years in Chicagoland. I feel lucky to have spent my summers up in Minnesota, as I love the prairie and the lakes and the people. I love to cook, I love to fish, and I love to fish and then cook the catch! I’d highly recommend this to current and future team members. Team Echinacea has canoes!
This one got sent back into the lake instead of going in the frying pan. Go make some more bass! (5.9 lbs, but who’s counting)
I am an graduate student at Northwestern University / Chicago Botanic Garden, pursuing a M.S. in Plant Biology and Conservation, and have worked as a research assistant and a lab manager for Team Echinacea. My thesis research will focus on Asteraceae species presence and richness in remnant and restored prairies in western Minnesota.
Pronouns: She/They
Research Interests
I am very much interested in restoration ecology and land management. Prairies have always had a special place in my heart and were one of the first ecosystems I truly fell in love with. I hope to create practical and functional conservation plans for protecting our prairies, the most endangered ecosystem in the world, in the future.
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I grew up in southeast Iowa, but have been living in Illinois for the past 3 years. When I’m not working I love to be paddle boarding, hammocking, cooking, reading, or snuggling my 6-year-old tuxedo cat named Mo.
My cat Mo!Me at the Orchid Show at Chicago Botanic Garden
I am a high school science teacher from La Salle High School in Yakima, Washington. Before I was a teacher, I was an ecologist studying plant communities in savanna landscapes. At La Salle, our campus contains nine acres of restored riparian habitat that we manage in partnership with the Yakama Tribal Fisheries Project. My goal this summer is to participate in and learn from Echinacea Project’s ongoing activities and to develop a long-term research project to bring home for science students at La Salle.
I’m a junior in Environmental Science at Western Washington University, expecting to graduate winter quarter 2025.
Pronouns: He/Him
Research Interests
I’m very interested the ecology of botany, mycology and soil. I’d be very interested in learning about how invasive species and fire ecology affect community structure of prairie ecosystems.
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I’m currently going to school in Bellingham, WA but I grew up in Eden Prairie, MN, glad to be back in the plains.
In my spare time I like to rock climb and kayak, birdwatch, forage mushrooms, read, and play banjo and guitar.
