people
Current Students
Weiqing Qu
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Weiqing is from Shanghai and has a BS in Geographic Sciences from East China Normal University and an MS in Environmental Science from NYU. She is currently pursuing her PhD. in PEEC and is co-advised by Drs. Bried and Jog. She will be working on developing a Midwest climate-sensitivity bioindicator for wetland mapping, monitoring, and assessment. She will be working with odonates, plants, and herps.
Matt Finzel (he/they)
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Matt is a botanist and graduate student in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. Matt's thesis involves comparing taxonomic surrogates for floristic quality using datasets available at the Illinois Natural History Survey, where he works with the Wetland Science Program.
Melanie Lopez (she/her)
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Melanie is a junior in NRES at UIUC. She is working as an independent study student and continuing the work that Vanessa did on the Plant app study for Illinois.
Adam Transue (he/his)
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Adam is an undergraduate student in his junior year at the University of Illinois majoring in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences with a concentration in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology and a minor in Political Science. He has strong interests in aquatic ecology, conservation, human-environment interactions, and photography. Adam will be the lead contributor of images for a project to develop a field guide for winter identification of deciduous trees of Illinois.
Former Students
Vanessa Gama (she/her)
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Vanessa is a freshman at UIUC in the Chemical Engineering program and was an SROP (summer intern) student in 2024. She worked on evaluating the efficacy of various Plant apps in Illinois.
Rohini Vembar (she/her)
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Rohini completed her thesis on compiling a new wetland assessment tool for Illinois and climate-based wetland prioritization for the Midwest. She was funded by the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. Rohini now works as a scientist for Resource Environmental Solutions, consulting firm based out of Baltimore, MD.
Raul Guzman (he/him)
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Raul is a senior at studying Geography and GIS at UIUC. He was an SROP student in the summer of 2023 and helped Rohini to field test the Wetland Rapid Assessment for Illinois (RAIL).
Tommi Fouts (she/her)
Tommi is a former Master's student from NSU. In 2019, she completed her thesis on wetland plant indicator species and reference floristic quality in the southern plains. She published some of her work in Conservation Science and Practice and is working on publishing her next chapter. Tommi is very passionate about the environment and loves to visit wetlands and look for cool plants.
Jonathan Sullivan (he/him)
Jonathan was a former graduate student at NSU. He worked on nesting success of snowy plovers in response to edge effects and woody invasion (Tamarix spp.) in the Great Salt Plains National Wildlife refuge. He enjoys talking to people, being outdoors, and hunting.
Collaborators
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Jason works at INHS and is affiliate faculty with the Department of Entomology at UIUC and faculty in PEEC (Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology). He works on odonates, wetlands, insect conservation, applied plant ecology, and community ecology.
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Rob is the Curator of North American Botany at the Institute of Systematic Botany at New York Botanical Garden and is an adjunct professor of Biology at the City University of New York. He works on floristics of North America and systematics and ecology of the Cyperaceae and the Sarraceniaceae. He also heads the New Manual of Vascular Plants project.​
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Jack is a plant ecologist and works with the Wetland Science Program at INHS. He works on wetland ecology, floristic quality, biodiversity monitoring, and community ecology.