research
Wetland Assessment
I am interested in understanding, testing, and refining vegetation tools for wetland assessment. A lot of my work centers around the floristic quality assessment index (FQI). I have conducted wetland FQI studies in upstate New York, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Illinois. I am currently working on a series of projects aimed at characterizing reference floristic quality and finding short-cuts to traditional Floristic Quality Assessment.
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Study site in western Kentucky - TNC preserve
Field team for Kentucky data collection
One promising shortcut appears to be indicator species. So far we have shown that indicator species perform better with context (e.g. specification by region, wetland type). Currently we are exploring indicator species of potential "reference" sites in the southern plains. At the same time, we are evaluating performance of indicator species relative to competing methods (e.g. rapid FQI, stressor checklists) because ultimately we want practitioners to adopt the most effective and efficient assessment tools.
Location of Oklahoma wetland sites
Separation of land use class by floristic quality metrics (Jog et al. 2017 Ecological Indicators)
Plant Phylogenetic Diversity
I am interested in patterns of taxonomic distinctness and how phylogenetic distance and signal may play into floristic quality assessments. Currently we are exploring relationships of species richness, ecological conservatism, and taxonomic distinctness in wetland plant assemblages. Hereafter, we plan to dig more deeply into geographic patterns of taxonomic distinctness across wetlands. Ultimately, we hope to discover if the neglected phylogenetic dimension of bioassessments is useful.
Other Research Interests
I am also interested in wetland determinations, floristics, and ethnobotany. I currently work on wetland determinations and mitigation assessments for the Illinois Natural History Survey and Illinois Department of Transportation. I have studied ethnobotany in the Sahyadris (Western Ghats) in India, and organic farming practices of Hmong people in northeastern Oklahoma.
Ethnobotany of tribal people of the Western Ghats, India
Hmong farming
K-12 school field trip in rural India - educating girls about conservation and sustainable harvesting
Rauwolfia serpentina - endemic medicinal plant from India
Exploring sacred groves in the Western Ghats, India - National Geographic Studies
Keying endemics of the Western Ghats in India with students and researchers
