March 2022

This month, the Hoban lab had a lot going on, including RAs Emily Schumacher and Austin Koontz trying to move the Big Rock at the Arboretum (which weighs more than a school bus). Just kidding, but look below for a summary of all of the events that happened this month!

• Career moves:
  • Former REU (2020) and REEF (2021) Kaylee Rosenberger has been accepted into the Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology PhD program at the University of Colorado Boulder which emphasizes statistics and informatics as well as outreach, interdisciplinary collaboration, and internships.  She will rotate through three labs in her first year, including several in plant science.  We hope to have her back someday for a Tree Talk or visit!
  • Two members of the Tree Conservation Biology Lab received NSF GRFP awards.  Kaylee Rosenberger, former REU and REEF fellow received an award for a project proposal on hybridization across the Ulmus genus and how hybrids could help species survive pests and disease, and she will start a PhD at CU Boulder in fall 2023.  Ashley Hamilton, new lab member and starting a PhD at U Chicago in the fall 2023, received an award for a project proposal on variation in reproductive success among individual trees in a population, and how this variation could affect degree and rate of adaptation in populations of trees. Both have a high interest in science communication and mentorship.
• Publications:
  • Schumacher, E., Brown, A., Williams, M., Romero-Severson, J., Beardmore, T., Hoban, S. (2022). Range shifts in butternut, a rare, endangered tree, in response to past climate and modern conditions. Journal of Biogeography, 00:1–13. Emily Schumacher, research assistant for the Conservation Biology lab, as well as several other arboretum staff members and collaborators discussed the effects of glaciation and modern climate on the rare and endangered tree species, butternut (Juglans cinerea), in Emily's first first author publication. Using genetic methods, species distribution modeling, and fossil pollen modeling, this study concluded that this species has largely been affected by both modern climate conditions and past glaciation, as well as proposed possible locations of glacial refugia for this species during and following the last glacial maximum, around 21,000 years ago. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.14350
• Presentations:
  • On March 1st, Austin Koontz virtually presented his master’s research at the Utah Rare Plant Meeting. This is an annual meeting with 50–75 attendees, many of them members of the Utah Native Plant Society, but also including faculty from Utah colleges and managers from federal and state regulatory agencies (i.e. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Utah Rare Plant Program) and nonprofits (e.g. Center for Biological Diversity). Austin’s presentation concerned a species complex of rare and Threatened plants (Primula) native to the Great Basin region of the western U.S.
  • March 3, Sean Hoban presented at a meeting of policy makers who are preparing for a set of meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity, leading up to the global Conference of the Parties (COP). Over 100 policy makers and environmental statistics agencies attended, plus representatives of the CBD, and UN Environment Program.  The webinars are presenting information and guidance on indicators.  Sean presented with GEO BON colleagues on indicators for species and genetic change that can be measured and reported on easily and frequently, and which can guide conservation action in a time of environmental change. For info and links to view webinars, see here.
  • Sean Hoban presented to the BGCI Global Conservation Consortia (virtually) about conserving rare plants ex situ.  Emily Schumacher, Austin Koontz, Bethany Zumwalde and Kaylee Rosenberger also attended this.  About 40 people attended, a mix of garden professionals (curators, leadership, on the ground conservationists) and researchers.