Student Advisory Group

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Ioana is a Ph.D. student at UCLA, studying the evolution of plant diversity. She investigates the process of speciation in the California native genus Linanthus. This genus has wide morphological variation, species with multiple color forms and young sister taxa that co-occur, making it an ideal group to study species boundaries. Her dissertation project will clarify the conservation units in taxa that experience gene flow. Before graduate school, she worked in the energy efficiency industry, making the transition to a career in biology by surveying public lands for rare and invasive species with the Forest Service and collecting native seeds for restoration with the BLM Seeds of Success Program.

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Annie studies Biology and Anthropology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with the goal of pursuing a PhD in ethnobotany, ethical drug discovery and women's health. Annie is currently the student curator at the Hoover Herbarium. She has researched high elevation alpine plants in Yosemite, rafted through the Grand Canyon to survey vegetation, and recently interned at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Her current research involves the taxonomic revision of the genus Bembicia in the Willow family (Salicaceae). Annie is passionate about bridging generational gaps and integrating community action and academia; she is the student adviser on the board of directors for her CNPS chapter in which she has started a program integrating student research as a regular part of CNPS SLO meetings and advocates for native plants.

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Sierra is a student at LA Mission College working towards a degree in Environmental Science & aspiring towards a career in conservation and environmental public outreach. Currently she works in Sylmar, CA as a teachers assistant with LAUSD teaching phonemic awareness in kinder and 1st grade. She loves connecting young minds to the outdoors and educating them about native plants & their uses, utilizing the leadership training she gained from the LA Nature for All academy to help foster communities to nature. In her free time she enjoys rollerskating around the San Fernando Valley while stockpiling plant photos for her iNaturalist account as well as organizing with local environmental social justice groups.

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Demi Espinoza is the daughter of working class Mexican immigrants and the youngest of ten siblings raised in Riverside, California. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology at CSUSB and is currently getting a Master's degree in Urban Sustainability and GIS at Antioch University. Demi has worked on policy advocacy elevating racial equity and climate justice in Portland, Oregon. She currently works for Safe Routes National Partnership, where she works on environmentally friendly active transportation options in Southern California. She is also a native plant intern with the City of Long Beach’s Office of Sustainability. Demi currently serves as the Board President for the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. In her free time, Demi is probably hiking with her dog Dolly Parton.

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Hannah is currently a graduate student at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB. Her passion for native plants began while hiking in the Los Padres National Forest and the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura County. The beauty and diversity of native plants was so mesmerizing that she decided to pursue a career in conservation. After graduating from UC Davis, she worked for the US Forest Service, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and the Santa Clara River Conservancy. As a student advisor, Hannah hopes to share the importance of native plant conservation and lead a trip to Carrizo Plain National Monument. One of the coolest plants she's ever seen is Cypripedium montanum (Mountain lady's slipper), and she's never met a Calochortus that she didn't love.

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Charles is currently an undergraduate who fell in love with botany when he was hired out as a field botanist assisting a Sierra Nevada plant survey. From there it has been a full immersion into the botanical world. He has been mentored by Dr. Dena Grossenbacher and specializes in the plants of the Sierra Nevada alpine. He has become very interested in macro photography of plants and thoroughly enjoyed photographing alpine flora. An active member of Cal Poly's botany community associating with many enthusiastic botany professors and assisting in anything botany related on/off campus. He is president of plant science club, garden manager of Cal Poly's Food Pantry Garden, and an advocate for learning about plants no matter what background or academic interest.

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Giancarlo Gomez, also known by Gio, is an undergraduate at CSU, Northridge majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Science. He is interested in understanding important interactions in ecosystems and how they matter on a larger scale. This has developed into an interest in conservation and ecology. He has also developed other interests including botany and paleontology. His goal is to accomplish research in the form of a Masters and eventually a PhD in one or more of his interests. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, camping, and playing sports.

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Hannah received her B.S. in plant biology from UC Davis and her research interests revolve around plant systematics. She currently works at the UC Davis herbarium and first fell in love with plant identification during her first botany course. Identifying plants was innate for Hannah and she was most fascinated by the history of discovering and classifying plants. Hannah grew up in Roseville and as a child remembers whimsical car rides of vast fields of color all throughout her hometown. She has recently identified these rainbow fields as vernal pools filled with California native plants such as Fremont’s Goldfields. Sadly, she has seen a significant decrease in these beautiful fields and hopes to record, protect, and study what is left of California’s wondrous plant communities. When Hannah is not at the herbarium she enjoys botanizing, especially in the Sierra Nevada and feels fortunate enough to combine her passion for plants into her personal and academic life.

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Jason Leung is a third-year undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles studying ecology, with a minor in bioinformatics. Outside of classes, he conducts research on oak genetics and hybridization in Dr. Victoria Sork’s lab and is beginning a new job with My Green Lab where he’ll help improve the sustainability of scientific research on campus.   Jason has also interned with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, performing vegetation surveys of the beautiful coastal dunes around Humboldt Bay. He enjoys running, hiking, and backpacking, as well as trying all the great food that Los Angeles has to offer, especially at taco trucks and boba shops.  Originally from the Bay Area, his favorite tree is the madrone, Arbutus menziesii.

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Brittany Long is a transfer student at Humboldt State University majoring in biology and minoring in anthropology. Her research interests often combine these two studies, and she is particularly interested in enthobiology, paleobotany, Indigenous ecology, and archaeology. She chose HSU because it is a biologist's playground: the Pacific ocean and temperate rain forest make for excellent field opportunities. Once she graduates with a bachelor's degree, Brittany plans on going to graduate school. Her career goals mainly include work in the outdoors. She would love to work as a field biologist or ranger, and a professor later on. In her free time, she loves to garden, do yoga, create art, and of course, search for rare species of native plants.

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Larkin is currently studying Natural Sciences at Los Angeles Valley College. Their goal is to help make the city more green and spread awareness about simple ways folks can include native species into urban environments. Whether it’s a small balcony, window sill flower box, roof top garden, or a large lawn, adding native plant species can help conserve native plants and the pollinators that depend on them! Larkin’s other planty interests include learning about green architecture, plant sentience, and plant music.

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Elizabeth is a student at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA majoring in Conservation of Natural Resources. As a Desert Cahuilla native, she is passionate about cultural preservation throughout California and the importance of engaging with local Indigenous communities to better educate and diversify a new generation of stewards. From “first” names of plants and animals to ancient fire ecology practices, California was and is still home to the first stewards. She is excited to help foster new community relationships in hopes of protecting our unique biodiversity. When not in class, volunteering, or hiking, she works as a field technician on a project in coordination with the USGS

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Stephanie is a first generation college student, currently attending Citrus College pursuing a degree in Wildland Resources and Forestry. She has volunteered with the USFS through their Americas’ Great Outdoors program aiding with trail maintenance and a tour of common Southern California Native Flora; during the same season she was a handler of both domesticated and rescued native snakes in the AGO Reptile House. In her spare time, you can find Stephanie intertwining GIS and fun through Geocaching. Send Stephanie out the door with her pair of roller skates and her Key to Coastal & Chaparral Flowering Plants of Southern California and she is set for the day.

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Richard Rachman is a plant ecologist based in Los Angeles. He is a graduate student and instructor at California State University, Northridge, as well as a field technician with the National Park Service studying the effects of wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains on rare, endemic, invasive, and native flora. Previous research has been in dendrochronology with Artemisia tridentata, vegetation communities in Greater sage-grouse habitat, native rodent stress and bait preference, and arachnid microhabitats. Richard enjoys watching movies in his free time, playing PokémonGo, botanizing, eating at vegetarian restaurants, and advocating for habitat restoration and for the Queer community.

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Diana A. Esquivel Sanchez is currently studying Biology at UCSC with an AA Degree in Biological Sciences. She is also an exhibits guide volunteer at Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz where she informs the public about invertebrate animals. She aspires to be an orthodontist but also has a deep interest in the outdoors. She enjoys working with her community and the youth. Luckily, she was able to do both by being part of the first Sierra Club LA Garden Project Internship with a non-profit called WYLD. During her internship, she worked closely with middle school students to teach them gardening techniques. She is excited to be able to work with CNPS in order to expand outdoor education with the Santa Cruz community

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Morgan Stickrod is currently a graduate student at San Francisco State University, working in Tom Parker’s lab. His research is focused on the federally endangered Suisun Thistle (Cirsium hydrophilumhydrophilum; Asteraceae), investigating ecological constraints and limitations to recruitment of the thistle in the brackish tidal marsh habitat in which it occurs. He is also collaborating on several other projects that are looking at population genetics and evolutionary relationships among the California Serpentine Wetland Endemic block of Cirsium. He also works at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), where he is involved in a number of rare plant management projects throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains and San Francisco peninsula watershed.

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Jacob is a Ph.D. student at UC Santa Barbara, studying controls of soil organic matter in California grasslands. He graduated from UCSB in 2015 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolution. Jacob spent four years between graduation and grad school working seasonal jobs around California in ecological restoration and plant community monitoring. He has worked for the National Park Service in Yosemite and as part of the SF Area Monitoring Network, and for non-profit organizations such as Point Blue Conservation Science and Audubon California. When not working, Jacob enjoys surfing, traveling, cooking extravagant meals, and reading. His favorite plant is Polemonium eximium, the Sky Pilot.