Latest News | MEEP Lab @ SFSU

Summer in the Great Basin

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 18:15:21 -0700

The deserts team (Abbey, Nio and Paris), visited the Great Basin desert to collect more samples for the ongoing project investigating Syntrichia moss. It was a quick yet effective trip jam-packed with findings!

See the bottom of this post for our iNaturalist project; help us out with identifying!

This fieldwork supports the masters thesis of Paris Hendershot, and the final project of post-bac researcher Abbey Schedler. Paris is investigating physiological responses of Syntrichia mosses in extreme environments, read more about their projects here! Abbey is researching the microbiome of desert biocrusts, learn more here!

Our first stop was Deep Springs College, where we were once again hosted by the wonderful students and president Andrew Zink. Bright and early we found an abundance of our target genus Syntrichia and we were surrounded by beautiful soil crusts. Read below to hear from Paris about her favorite sights and experiences from the trip!

From Paris - “In June, we had the privilege of spending a weekend in the Great Basin Desert. We stayed at a cute Airbnb in the town of Bishop, about an hour drive away from our collection site. Early Saturday morning, we started looking for moss at Deep Springs College. We hit the jackpot this trip! It was astonishing how much moss was around in this biocrust soil compared to other sites we had previously visited. Additionally, the lichen was stunning with extremely vibrant colors. Before we knew it, we had collected all the samples we needed from this site and were about to leave when we got to see the horses! We got out of our car just to stop and see them before heading back to Bishop. It was a great trip overall!”

Paris collecting Syntrichia moss from patches surrounding a Yellow Rabbitbrush shrub (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus)

Friendly faces at Deep Springs College!

The team taking in the beautiful view driving to Death Valley, CA.

We documented all plants we saw with iNaturalist. Check out our field trip iNat project!

View all observations from our field trip »

Thanks for tuning in to the MEEP blog!

SO BE FREE

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:15:21 -0700

Four members of the MEEP lab attended the 30th annual SO BE FREE bryophyte foray in San Diego County this Spring, put on by the California Native Plant Society Bryophyte chapter (CNPS). Read below to see how it went for Jenna, Abbey, Michael and Nio!

This foray is held annually in a different location throughout California to complete bryophyte surveys across a variety of habitats. This workshop brings bryologists and plant enthusiasts together for a weekend of hiking, bryophyte hunting, microscopy, and specimen identification olympics. Read about the history of SO BE FREE here, and consider attending next year!!

Congratulations are in order for our very own Dr. Jenna Ekwealor, or should we say, President Dr. Jenna Ekwealor!! Jenna was officially named the next president of the CNPS Bryophyte chapter at SO BE FREE. This was Kirsten Fisher’s last SBF as chapter president, who is sadly not pictured in the group photo below because she was taking it!

Attendees of the 30th annual CNPS Bryophyte chapter SO BE FREE

We hiked in Mission Trails Regional Park to look for mosses, hornworts and liverworts; the hike was beautifully organized by CNPS Bryophyte chapter secretary, Jake Bauer. This hike had a stunning bryophyte profile, see what we found below!

This is a liverwort, possibly Calasterella californica, captured by Michael C.

When stopped by a stream along the trail, this glowing beacon of hydrated Bryaceae moss caught our eye! Photo: Abbey S.

Abbey stopped at a moss wall along the Mission Trails hike. Photo: Nio G.

That’s all for now, until next year’s SO BE FREE! Thanks for tuning in to the MEEP blog!

Field work in Southern California

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:15:21 -0700

Five members of the MEEP lab took a trip to the Mojave and Colorado (Sonoran) Deserts to collect moss samples for the deserts project. This project spans field sites across the Great Basin, Mojave and Sonoran Deserts; stay tuned for updates on the research!

See the bottom of this post for our iNaturalist project; help us out with identifying!

This fieldwork supports the masters theses of Paris Hendershot and Kanika Kolpe, and the final project of post-bacc reseracher Abbey Schedler. Paris and Kanika are investigating physiological responses of Syntrichia mosses in extreme environments, read more about their projects here! Abbey is researching the microbiome of desert biocrusts, learn more here!

The first spot we looked for samples At the Anza Borrego UC Reserve, no luck but beautiful!

Read below to hear from each project member about their favorite sights and experiences from the trip!

Grad students Paris Hendershot and Kanika Kolpe both enjoyed surveying an impressive array of moss covered boulders near the Burns Pinon UC reserve. Moss ID in the field can be tricky and part of the fun (and sometimes frustration) is the mystery of deciding a preliminary ID between two species that look very similar. In our case, Grimmia (not our target) and Syntrichia, (our target) were the cause of many mix-ups. The students on the deserts project became more familiar with the differences as the fieldwork progressed. Below our grad students highlight a typical case of what it’s like to determine a preliminary moss ID in the field and how tricky it gets!

Kanika K - 'This is a photo of moss on a boulder. This type of moss which could be Syntrichia, does not grow on rocks; they grow on soil. While it is not apparent on this picture, there is a very thin patch of soil on this rock in which the moss is growing on. A Syntrichia spore could have landed on this small patch of soil and started growing. I find it fascinating that moss can thrive under such unusual circumstances that most plants would not be able to. My research is about how moss adapts to its environment and thrives. The ability to thrive on a thin patch of soil on a boulder in the middle of a desert is simply remarkable. I cannot wait to do more research on these moss and figure out exactly how they are able to survive in the deserts of California.'

Paris H - "This is a photo I took of some rock moss and lichen in the field at Burns Pinon Ridge Reserve. I found the location super interesting since this rock was in direct sunlight and moss tend to prefer shady areas. I also was amazed with how much moss was seen on this rock area! It really looks like a moss carpet…a very dried moss carpet that is. I will definitely be coming back to collect seasonally and observe these desert mosses in all their glory!"

Abbey and MEEP undergrad Nio Gonzalez rode the ultimate moss high when coming across a magnificent moss wall in Plum Canyon (Borrego Springs, CA). The two climbed the wall to collect the last bit of samples from the Sonoran Desert before the team moved on to the Mojave the next day.

Abbey and Nio scaling the side of this gorgeous moss wall. Abbey - "The element of verticality is not blatantly obvious from this photo, but the risk justified the reward to become one with the moss in this moment."

Nio had a particular power for finding Syntrichia in unassuming places, see one example below!

Nio sampling target species Syntrichia ruralis with the team. Nio - "There is something really special about noticing the little things in a place as vast as the desert."

Jenna and the crew taking in the view from the top of a hill at the Burns Pinon UC Reserve.

We documented all plants we saw with iNaturalist. Check out our field trip iNat project!

View all observations from our field trip »

Thanks for tuning in to the MEEP blog!

Great Basin Desert Field Work

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 18:15:21 -0700

*Syntrichia caninervis* from Deep Springs College

Four members of the MEEP lab took a trip to the Great Basin Desert just outside Bishop, CA to get moss samples for the deserts project. This project spans field sites across the Great Basin, Mojave and Sonoran Deserts; stay tuned for our upcoming field trips!

Sampling site #1 at Deep Springs College

The desert project team (Abbey, Jenna, Kanika and Paris) was hosted by the incredible folks at Deep Springs College. Thank you to president Andrew Zink for the hospitality! They were able to sample at three locations within the Great Basin Desert including just outside the Deep Springs Campus.

The samples collected from this trip contribute to the larger deserts project, where the deserts team will be investigating physiological processes of mosses in desert ecosystems across an environmental gradient. Abbey is adding a microbiome component to the project by investigating the microbial communities in desert biological soil crusts (BSCs). See below for some fieldwork photos!

Jenna, Kanika and Paris collecting a moss sample at the first site near Deep Springs College

Abbey holding up a biological soil crust sample

On the last day of fieldwork, the desert team joined forces with local Bishop Bryologist Ben Carter to look for some final samples among the Joshua Tree lined roads outside of Big Pine, CA. The crew took in the beautiful scenery while collecting some bonus samples. Thank you Ben for offering your expertise to our group!

Kanika, Paris, Abbey and Ben Carter in Big Pine, CA after collecting samples.

Taking in the view as the desert team drives towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

We documented all plants we saw with iNaturalist. Check out our field trip iNat project!

View all observations from our field trip »

Thanks for tuning in to the MEEP blog!

MEEP on tour 2026

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 18:15:21 -0700

The members of the MEEP lab have had a busy year so far, read below to see what we have been up to!

The lab had a successful run at the 2026 CSU Biotech Conference. Lab members Kaylee Macomb, Katrina McCollough and Abbey Schedler prepared posters; Katrina and Kaylee delivered fantastic talks for the poster session!

The MEEP lab at the CSU Biotech Conference in Sacramento, CA.

The lab took home multiple wins at CSU Biotech, including - Raffle winner Nio Gonzalez completed the tabling passport - networking champion! Abbey and Katrina’s poster won the Best Graphic Design Poster Award!

Katrina and Nio displaying their wins!

Kaylee and Michael took on the Plant and Animal Genome Conference; they delivered fantastic poster presentations on their genomic projects! Kaylee is investigating the genus 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑠 while Michael is looking at the 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎 genus.

Kaylee at the Plant and Aninal Genome Conference (PAG) presenting her comparative genomics project on the insights into the U/V sexual system evolution.

The MEEP lab was invited to attend the “Tiny Nightlife” event at the California Academy of Science with special guest, tiny chef! Thank you to CAS Botanist Isaac Lichter-Marck for letting us join in on the fun. Lab members Joshua Harris, Frey Rogers and Katrina McCollough brought some moss and lichen samples to display and discuss at the event, creating a very popular herbarium display table!

Joshua, Frey and Katrina representing the herbarium table!

The MEEP lab has more exciting stops lined up for 2026, check back to see more!

Lab alumnus Katrina McCollough named CSU Trustee Scholar

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:15:21 -0700

MEEP Lab alumnus, Katrina McCollough, has earned the title of CSU Trustee Sam Nejabat Scholar for Cal State East Bay. The MEEP lab wants to congratulate Kat on her well-deserved achievement!!!

Read about Kat on the CSU East Bay announcement page; this fantastic write-up details Kat’s journey as an ecologist and mycology icon.

Kat on San Bruno Mountain; fieldwork for her project on epiphytic lichens, Summer 2025.

The MEEP lab is proud to celebrate Kat, congratulations!!!

The MEEP Lab Visits the California Academy of Sciences!

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:15:21 -0700

The MEEP lab had the great pleasure of visiting the California Academy of Sciences herbarium collection in November! Our stellar tour guide, CAS Botanist Isaac Lichter-Marck, gave us a peek behind the curtain of the sixth largest collection in the United States.

Living Roof MEEP selfie

The MEEP Lab enjoyed meeting the botany staff at CAS; Ricardo Kriebel shared his beautifully crafted botanical posters and was kind enough to give each member of the lab a copy to take home, thank you Ricardo! Read more about Isaac and Ricardo here.

The MEEP Lab with CAS Botanist Isaac Lichter-Marck! (left to right: Michael, Emma, Abbey, Isaac, Kaylee, Kanika, Paris, Josh)

Thank you Isaac, Ricardo and the phenomenal staff at California Academy of Sciences for letting the MEEP lab hang out for the day, until next time!

Newest members of the MEEP Lab!

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 18:15:21 -0700

The MEEP lab has seen some serious growth in August 2025, we have seven new members to welcome! Kanika, Michael, Kelley, Paris, and Joshua are first year grad students, Abbey is a post-baccalaureate scholar with the NSF Bay Area RaMP for Microbiome Sciences, and Nio is an undergrad at SFSU. Read below about what our new researchers are up to!

Paris and Kanika are tackling a project investigating desiccation tolerance of mosses in California Deserts. Paris studied biology at UCSC and Kanika got her BS in Forensic Science from San Jose State.

Abbey is teaming up with Nio and MEEP veteran Kaylee Macomb to work on a project researching the lichens of San Bruno Mountain. Abbey is from Texas and studied Ecology at UNT and Nio is studying ecology, evolution and conservation biology at SFSU.

Michael is diving into a genomics project looking at high elevation Syntrichia, and he received his BS in bioinformatics at UCSC.

Joshua and Kelley are tackling the dust project which investigates dust and environmental health in the Central Valley. Kelley and Joshua both graduated from SFSU, Joshua with a BS in biology and Kelley with a BS in ecology, evolution and conservation biology.

The new MEEP team enjoyed a field trip to San Bruno Mountain last week!

Michael, Kelley, Joshua, Kat, Kaylee and Nio on San Bruno Mountain!

A warm welcome to all of our new members, and stay tuned for updates on their research!

Second season of field work on San Bruno Mountain

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 18:15:21 -0700

This summer, MEEP Lab went back to San Bruno Mountain to launch iButton temperature and humidity loggers.

SFSU Summer Research Symposium 2025

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

MEEP Lab undergraduates Kaylee Macomb, David Marczak, Vinusha Bandara, and Faizaan Shaikh presented a research poster at the 2025 SFSU Summer Research Symposium, mentored by graduate student .Richard Baker-Strader.

The group worked on a comparative genomics project investigating the genomic structure of the moss Syntrichia princeps, using synteny analysis to test whether both male and female sex chromosomes are retained in the genome.

The event brought together undergraduate researchers from across the College of Science & Engineering. It was a great chance for the team to share their work, field questions from the audience, and see what other research is happening across campus.

Great job, team!

Congratulations to all four students and to mentor Richard for a great summer project!

Katrina McCullough wins 3rd place in the 2025 CoSE Student Showcase!

Tue, 06 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Senior MEEP Lab researcher and LSAMP scholar Katrina McCullough presented her research project “Lichens of San Bruno Mountain: Distribution, morphology, and reproductive strategies of epiphytic lichens on Baccharis pilularis” at the 2025 SFSU CoSE Student Project Showcase.

This is a major campus-wide event featuring over 200 posters from departments including Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Earth & Climate Sciences, Mathematics, Physics & Astronomy, and Psychology. Posters are judged within topic-based categories, and Katrina presented in the Environment category.

Each category awards 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes. Posters are evaluated by faculty and industry volunteer judges based on clarity, design, presentation, and effectiveness of research significance. Katrina won 3rd place!

Her project focuses on the ecology of epiphytic lichens on coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis) at San Bruno Mountain, looking at species distribution, morphology, and reproductive strategies across microhabitats.

Congratulations, Katrina!

MEEP Lab senior Emory Adelman also presented a poster based on her work in the Promoting Inclusivity in Computing (PINC) program. In addition, former MEEP Lab undergrads from the 2024 PSP summer research group presented new work from other classes and labs. It was great to see so many familiar faces and projects throughout the showcase.

Stop by Hensill Hall 4th floor case (outside of the lab in HH 405) to see the poster for yourself.

Katrina presenting her research at the CoSE Student Project Showcase.

Click to enlarge the poster!

Katrina won 3rd place in the Environment category!

Growing in Relationship: Plant Ecology, the Three Sisters, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 18:15:21 -0700

In our Plant Ecology course this semester, we didn’t just study plants: we studied relationships.

Between plants and environment. Between species. Between people and land. Between traditional ecological knowledge and western science. We built the class around a semester-long experiment using the Three Sisters planting system: corn, beans, and squash grown together. This planting system has long been used by Indigenous peoples across the Americas, especially in the Northeast and Mesoamerica, where it remains an important part of cultural and agricultural traditions. We studied it by performing a greenhouse experiment and by reading both western science and about traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), especially through Braiding Sweetgrass* by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

A Three Sisters experimental pot.

Bringing TEK into the classroom

Since the first day of class, I have tried to make it clear that this wasn’t a course about plants or ecosystems in isolation, but about plants as part of ecological and cultural systems, and that humans are and always have been a part of both. Plant ecologist and Citizen of Potawatomi Nation Kimmerer writes about the Three Sisters in terms of both biology and values. Corn gives structure, beans fix nitrogen, squash protects the soil. But she also talks about how they support one another, and what that can teach us. The book gave us a way to think about science that includes observation, care, and responsibility.

The experiment: Monocultures vs. polycultures

How do the Three Sisters grow together compared to alone? What happens if we use different legume species? How does soil nutrient level affect plant growth in each case?

Corn seedlings in monoculture.

Bean seedlings in monoculture.

Squash seedlings in monoculture.

Three Sisters seedlings in polyculture.

We grew plants in both monoculture and polyculture, in both nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor soils. We expected polycultures to do better in low-nutrient soil because of the help legumes provide. Students measured corn height, and flowers, fruit, and final biomass of all species, then entered their data into a shared spreadsheet.

What we learned

We measured biomass, flower/fruit yield, and corn height, but the biggest lessons were not about our particular results. We explored how facilitation and resource partitioning can lead to higher productivity in polycultures and how TEK systems like the Three Sisters reflect ecological principles long before they had names in Western science. Braiding Sweetgrass helped us think critically about what science gains when we make space for different ways of knowing. It reminded us that scientific inquiry doesn’t have to be extractive (and perhaps should not be).

Students counting and measuring plants.

Main Results

Soil nutrient level had a significant effect on plant performance across all treatments and combinations. Nutrient-poor soil consistently reduced yield: plants were shorter, lighter, and produced fewer flowers and fruits, regardless of whether they were in monoculture or polyculture.

Squash in nutrient-rich soil (top left) and nutrient-poor soil (bottom right), demonstrating the marked difference in yield.

Number of flowers by planting type.

Interestingly, we found that while corn grew taller in monoculture, total biomass per shoot was higher in polyculture, suggesting more efficient biomass production when grown with companions. Pole bean mass was also higher in polyculture, further supporting our hypothesis that plant partnerships can boost performance, possibly through facilitation and nitrogen sharing.

Corn height by planting type.

Unfortunately, we were unable to analyze shoot mass for polyculture plants in nutrient-poor soil, as the data for this treatment combination was never uploaded to the shared spreadsheet, despite the fact that the plants were harvested and measured. This limited our ability to fully evaluate one of the most important conditions in our experimental design.

Mass by planting type.

We also made observations that sparked questions and hypotheses. Early on, corn monocultures grew quickly and looked more vigorous. This early advantage seemed to wane over time. We wondered whether there might be a benefit to germinating around members of the same species, particularly for corn, where monocultures seemed to gain physical stability from neighboring stalks. Their roots appeared to intertwine and hold each other up, especially in the taller monoculture pots. This led to broader questions about how seedling roots might behave—intertwining, avoiding, or supporting—depending on the species mix. Moreover, this observation made us wonder whether benefits of polyculture may play out more in a longer-term experiment.

Another striking observation came from our backup plants, which we had culled for space. When we uprooted them, we noticed a difference in root architecture by soil type. In nutrient-poor soil, roots were long, thin, and exploratory, as if searching for nutrients (this was especially true for corn roots). In nutrient-rich soil, roots were much shorter and more compact, forming dense upside-down shrubs just beneath the surface. Though we didn’t measure these traits, they offered visual cues about how soil resources might shape plant behavior below ground.

Corn seedling from nutrient-rich (left) and nutrient-poor (right) soils, demonstrating difference in root architecture.

Lessons about logistics

One unexpected but valuable takeaway had less to do with the plants and more to do with the logistics of a large group collaboration. During the final harvest, we discovered that not only were sample sizes reduced, but entire treatment combinations were effectively lost due to missing data. Although the measurements were taken for polyculture plants grown in nutrient-poor soil, for example, the persons responsible for recording those data never uploaded it, and we had no way of identifying who worked with those pots.

Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Richard proudly presenting a particularly fruitful corn stalk.

A tiny ear of corn from one of our experimental plants.

In future semesters, I plan to assign pots directly to individual students and require real-time data entry or direct upload to prevent these kinds of gaps. Overall, we need to establish a lot clearer protocols and ensure that the same people are performing the same measurements across treatment types to have more reliable results. This experience became a good teaching moment, not just about ecological research, but about accountability, communication, and the structure of collaborative work in science.

Looking forward

As climate change continues to put strain on our ecosystems and agricultural systems, there is growing recognition that TEK offers insights for sustainable land management and resilience. Our class experiment is a small-scale attempt to understand that wisdom not only through scientific methods, but through relationship with plants and with the teachings that have long sustained the land. The Three Sisters were our lessons, our collaborators, and our teachers. And they reminded us, as Kimmerer says, that “all flourishing is mutual.”

See it in action

The photos in the album below are from a single greenhouse session late in the semester, shortly before harvest day, and are courtesy of San Francisco State University Strategic Marketing and Communications.

SFSU Summer Research Symposium 2024

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate MEEP Lab researchers Ashley, NSF REU Scholars Jason and Frey, and the PINC Genomics Team (Andre, Daniel, Emory, Nathalie, and Wendy) gave excellent research presentations at SFSU’s Summer Research Symposium. Our group’s presentations were all back-to-back in the morning; it was a total moss takeover! It was awesome.

Congratulations, all!

Field work on San Bruno Mountain

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 18:15:21 -0700

This summer, several members of the MEEP Lab made multiple trips up to San Bruno Mountain for fieldwork, split between surveying Syntrichia moss populations and studying epiphytes on coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis). The mountain weather kept us guessing—one day, we were hiking under the sun, and the next, we found ourselves enveloped in thick fog, where visibility was limited to just a few feet.

We got our sampling started by marking key survey sites and collecting moss and epiphyte samples for later analysis. It was exciting to get things underway, but as we wrapped up, we were already making plans for the next field season to build on our findings and expand our work.

Despite the shifting weather, we spent our days hiking along the trails, exploring the rich tapestry of mosses and lichens that thrive on the mountain. From lush patches of moss on the forest floor to colorful lichen covering rocks and trees, the landscape was a constant source of awe. As we surveyed and collected samples, it was hard not to stop and appreciate the diversity of life in every nook and cranny. The vascular plants there aren’t too bad to look at, either!

College of Science and Engineering Student Project Showcase 2024

Fri, 03 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate MEEP Lab researcher Ashley Meinke presented a poster in SFSU’s College of Science and Engineering (CoSE) 2024 Student Project Showcase. This is a huge event with over 200 posters from schools and departments including: Biology (Ashley’s department), Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Environment, Mathematics, Physics & Astronomy, and Psychology. Poster and Project categories were further broken down by topic, and Ashley presented in the Environment category.

Each category awards 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize awards, and each poster is visited by up to 3 judges who score the presentation based on a set of 10 questions on the appearance, presentation, and significance of the research.
Ashley won 3rd place! I (PI Jenna) was a judge in a different category so I know how fierce the competition was–the presentations were truly excellent, it was hard to narrow down to the 3 best, even with our scores tallied. I am sure the Environment category was the same.

Congratulations, Ashley!

Stop by Hensill Hall 4th floor case (outside of the lab in HH 405) to see the poster for yourself.

Ashley with her poster at the CoSE Student Project Showcase.

Click to enlarge the poster!

Ashley won 3rd place in the Environment category!

Moss Appreciation Week at Lewis & Clark College

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Natural History Club of Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR) invited me to be a part of their 6th Annual Moss Appreciation Week, and it was a fantastic experience! I kicked off my involvement by leading a moss walk on campus, where we explored the diversity of mosses in the Pacific Northwest habitat. We had an enthusiastic group, and it was wonderful to see people connect with the mosses growing right under their feet on campus.

Throughout the week, there were tons of other moss-themed events that added to the celebration. Some highlights included:

Moss Petting Zoo: A hands-on experience where attendees could explore moss in all its textures, presented by the Portland State University Herbarium.

Moss Murmurs Ear Forest Installation: An interactive, immersive experience featuring soundscapes and voice performances.

Gastropod Derby: A fun, competitive event with a moss twist!

Terrarium Workshop: Participants created their own mini moss habitats.

I also saw some of the most beautiful moss art (in sticker form) and read some incredible moss poetry during this magnificent event. The event wrapped up with the keynote lecture, which I also had the honor of giving, titled “A sedentary stone does gather moss: The secret world of mosses under quartz crystals,” where I shared the story of hypolithic moss.

It was truly a fantastic week celebrating moss in all its forms. Thank you to the Lewis & Clark Natural History Club and everyone who made this week memorable!

All photos and videos below via Lewis & Clark Natural History Club instagram @lc_nhn

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Conference rendezvous at BOTANY 2023

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This year the Botanical Society of America annual meeting, BOTANY, was held in Boise, Idaho, where I actually currently live!

I co-taught a workshop, “Navigating Deep Learning with Digitized Herbarium Specimen Image Data”, with Rebecca Dikow, my former postdoc supervisor and Richie Hoedel, my former labmate from the Smithsonian Institution Data Science Lab, as well as other colleagues from SI and from University of Michigan; I co-organized a polyploid phylogenetics symposium, “The Ploid Thickens: Methodological Developments, Empirical Advances, and Remaining Challenges in Polyploid Phylogenetics” with Carl Rothfels, my current postdoc supervisor at Utah State University, in which I also presented new research on Syntrichia; and I co-presented a collaborative paper on historical Smithsonian women and their natural history collections in a Special Lecture Session, “Supporting Inclusive and Sustainable Research Infrastructure for Systematics (SISRIS) by Connecting Scientists and Their Specimens.” It was a whirlwind of a conference week, but it was great. Most of my postdoc lab, the Rothfels Lab, made the trek up from Logan and we had a get-together with some lab alumni, too. See you next year, BOTANY!

Field work in SW Utah

Mon, 29 May 2023 18:15:21 -0700

The Rothfels and Rushworth Labs headed to SW Utah for 10 days of fieldwork in the deserts and the mountains.

We camped at 5 different locations over 10+ days, collecting and documenting plants in desert and mountain habitats.

We documented all plants we saw with iNaturalist. Check out our field trip iNat “project” here:

View all observations from our field trip »

Introducing the MEEP Lab at San Francisco State University!

Sun, 29 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The MEEP Lab will officially open it’s doors at SF State in January of 2024!

If you’re a prospective undergraduate or graduate student interested in dryland moss research, please reach out.

BOTANY 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 18:15:21 -0700

I went to Alaska for two weeks; the first to tour the beautiful state, and the second to co-lead and present in a colloquium in the Botanical Society of America BOTANY 2022 conference. You can see my talk here and more information about the colloquium here.

A trip to Washington, D.C.

Mon, 30 May 2022 18:15:21 -0700

I went to D.C. to present in the Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, Life on the Edge: Exceptional Plants in Exceptional Place. See recordings of my talk and of the whole symposium here. As I lived in Idaho at the time, this was a big travel! It was especially surreal as I had traveled so little the previous two years with the COVID-19 pandemic. My husband and 7-month-old came along for the trip, too! The symposium was fantastic as was working with the Data Science Lab in person. I had never actually been to the National Museum of Natural History before (and it had just recently reopened up its public exhibits), so it was a dream to be there. I had great conversations with the Symposium speakers, attendees, and organizers. I am so thankful for being invited to speak and to be able to visit. I can’t wait to go back!

Wonders of a dryland moss

Sat, 30 Jan 2021 18:15:21 -0700

Myself and several collaborators on the 3D Moss project got together to host a virtual workshop in collaboration with the Jepson Herbarium. Funded by the NSF, participants were mailed workshop materials ahead of time, including a hand lens, Gathering Moss by Robin Wall-Kimmerer, and an individual specimen of Syntrichia princeps for a rehydration activity. The workshop was geared to participants from all backgrounds as Dr. Wall-Kimmerer’s book served as an excellent introduction to mosses. Presentations were kept short and accessible, and covered a range of 3DMoss research topics including bryophyte biology, genomics, physiology, reproduction, and ecology of biological soil crusts. This broad perspective gave participants a tour of the genus Syntrichia from all the fascinating angles our team studies. The virtual format, necessary for safety reasons, actually allowed for much greater accessibility, as was demonstrated by participants from all across North America. We are happy to say that we’ve received positive feedback from participants and we can deem the workshop a success. All the presentations were recorded and are now available as a self-paced, virtual workshop. It was a ton of fun to hear from the collaborators and even more so to chat with the participants. People from all backgrounds attended and it made for very interesting discussions in the break-out sessions. I’m really looking forward to doing something like this again!

NICAR 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 18:15:21 -0700

I attended a conference that was outside my field of expertise this year as a part of the NSF traineeship (NRT) I participated in, Environment & Society, Data Sciences for the 21st Century (DS421). The conference was the National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting by the Investigative Reporters & Editors society (NICAR2020) held in New Orleans, Louisiana. I attended because I wanted to learn science and data communication from the professionals: data journalists. It was fascinating to see the similarities and differences between our fields and approaches. I learned a lot at this conference and definitely feel better equipped to share my data, especially in online formats. I also feel more prepared to one day work with a journalist who might be interested in a writing a story on my science. The conference was held just adjacent to the French Quarter in NOLA. It was my first time visiting the city (a bucket list item, for sure). The people, culture, and architecture of NOLA are just beautiful, and the food and drink are delicious. I even snuck in a swamp tour the morning before my flight. It was a great experience!

Fieldwork-wildlife conflicts

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 18:15:21 -0700

Recently I completed my last fieldwork trip for my dissertation! Let’s take a moment to celebrate that fact before moving on to the topic of this post.

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Great. So, this last field trip was actually pretty low-key. I was just going to collect some environmental sensors/data loggers from the sites where I had my UV-reducing windows. I had 6 sensors out there, set up in two sets of 3. The first three were in place and all was well with them. The second set, however, had only 2 sensors in place and the third one was missing. I thought maybe it got blown away in a big wind storm! These sensors are pretty large and heavy so even if it did get really windy, I couldn’t imagine it would go very far. So I thought maybe there was a big summer monsoon that washed it farther away. However, when i followed the slope to the little wash down below I couldn’t find the data logger anywhere. It certainly would have gotten stuck on a nearby shrub and it was simply nowhere to be found. I gave up for the day and began my hike back to the lodge. As I was walking back, I kept running over the scene in my mind’s eye. Just a few feet from where the the sensor was I could see an odd collection of spiny buckhorn cholla seeds. There were definitely way more on this little ledge between boulders than would be there naturally… was that a woodrat midden? They’re also known as pack rats, right? Could they have taken my sensor? I ran my new hypothesis by the reserve directors and they returned with about a hundred stories of wood rat thievery out in the Mojave. It was definitely them and there’s no way I’m getting it out of their chambers. Well, imagine my surprise when I went back out and saw my sensor right on the front porch of the woodrat midden next to my site! It looked like the sensor got stuck on the massive hoard of cholla seeds as it was trying to take it to its lair. I was pleased to get the sensor back (see photo for proof of giddiness) but actually much more pleased about having solved the mystery.

Biocrust4 2019 in Minjerribah, Australia

Wed, 04 Sep 2019 18:15:21 -0700

This year the International Workshop on Biological Soil Crusts (Biocrust4), was held in Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), Australia. The meeting was absolutely excellent! Most participants stayed at a University of Queensland research station, which facilitated conversations and collaborations throughout the week. The week before I also had a chance to do some tourism in NE Australia, including a hike through Daintree National Park, sliding down a sand dune on a sand island, and scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef!

BOTANY 2019 in Tucson, Arizona

Tue, 06 Aug 2019 18:15:21 -0700

This year the large, national conference hosted by the Botanical Society of America (jointly with several smaller scientific and botanical societies) was held in the beautiful Tucson, Arizona. I had never been to Tucson and I was utterly blown away with how beautiful it is. I work in the Mojave and I love it, of course, but WOW, the Sonoran is something else. It is so green, even in the middle of summer! And in less than a week we were lucky to get two rainfalls; one lovely sprinkling and one massive monsoon. We also saw so many animals. The place is absolutely riddled with quails and mourning doves. I also saw quite a few cottontail rabbits. The first day there I saw a gorgeous Western diamondback rattlesnake and my friends saw a bobcat. Others at the conference saw a family of javelinas, an extremely large (and perhaps non-native) bullfrog, a coyote, and a roadrunner. Not to mention all the incredible plants! Like the hills of saguaro!!

Botany this year was also cool for another, more scholarly reason. I found it really inspiring and motivating, which really could not have come at a better time. I’m starting the 5th year of my PhD program and things are starting to wrap up. It’s a lot of pressure and sometimes I question if this career path is worth it, and if my research is worth it. However I had such excellent discussions about my projects and saw such inspiring presentations that I really feel moved to keep going, and with more umph. Plus, it was itself a reunion of so many I have worked with or went to school with will working within “botany” and it was so lovely to see them. it gave me a taste of what the rest of my career could be like: annual meet-ups with people I know, value, and can learn from who are now all over the country (or world!). It felt like a family reunion in a lot of ways, but a botanical family. A mossfam, even. It was nice, and I’m ready to knock out this PhD.

Bryology 2019 in Madrid, Spain

Tue, 16 Jul 2019 18:15:21 -0700

This year the International Association of Bryologists had a joint meeting with IMOSS (International Molecular Moss Science Society), and Sociedad Española de Briología (SEB; the Spanish Bryological Society) in Madrid, Spain. I presented my ongoing dissertation work at this conference and stayed for an extra day to do some tourism! I was totally unprepared for the magnificence that was El Museo Nacional de Prado and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. These are enormous and beautiful museums packed full masterpieces. We also went to the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park which is sometimes called “The Joshua Tree of Spain” because of its iconic granite boulders. I’d like to think of it as the Granite Mountains of Spain, instead, as the Granite Mountains in the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California are where I’m doing my field work! The meeting itself was great, too. It was a great mix of researchers that spanned the spectrum of molecular and organismal biology across land plants. I learned a lot and had inspring conversations with other attendees. Looking forward to future meetings with these groups!

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Reflections from the ASN Conference in Pacific Grove, CA The American Society of Naturalists (ASN) conference at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California, was an incredible experience. I had the chance to attend with two members from the MEEP Lab, Ashley and Richard, as well as our honorary member, Leo. The location was absolutely perfect—those beautiful coastal views set the stage for a conference full of engaging science and meaningful connections. Kat gave an excellent lightning talk, presenting her research in a fast-paced, yet captivating way. It was exciting to see her share her work with such an engaged and dynamic audience. The conference this year brought together a diverse group of researchers across various fields of ecology, evolution, behavior, genetics, and more. The talks were fascinating and sparked lots of conversation, and I had the chance to reconnect with colleagues while making new connections. Ashley, Richard, and Leo all left the conference with fresh ideas that will no doubt inspire our work at the MEEP Lab. In addition to the great science, the setting provided plenty of opportunities for social exchange and reflection. With the conference taking place in such a scenic location, it was easy to appreciate the beauty of the natural world while discussing the latest research. We even had the chance to think about further networking possibilities, like birdwatching or kayaking in the nearby Elkhorn Slough. Overall, it was an inspiring and rewarding experience—great talks, beautiful views, and valuable connections that will keep influencing our research back at the lab. Looking forward to putting some of what we learned into practice!