Announcements

BOTANY NEWS! (Check NEW Site)

July 2017

  • Paper hot off the press

June 2017

  • Paper Accepted: Seneviratne, M. N. Rajakaruna, M. Rizwan, S. Madawala, Y. S. Ok, and M. Vithanage. The effects of heavy metal-induced oxidative stress on seed germination and seedling development: A critical review. Environmental Geochemistry and Health (in press)
  • Paper Hot off the Press: Urban, A. J., Mittelhauser, G. H., Dickinson, M., and N. Rajakaruna. 2017. The Alpine Vascular Plants of Baxter State Park, Maine, USA. Rhodora (PDF)
  • Serpentinophiles meet in Albania and N. Greece for the 9th International Conference in Serpentine Ecology (June 5-14)

May 2017

  • Congratulations to former graduate student Teri Barry (M.Sc. in Botany from San Jose State University and former co-curator at the Sharsmith Herbarium) on her new position as Assistant Curator at the UC Davis Herbarium.
  • Nishi presents a seminar titled “Rock Outcrop Plant Communities: Models Habitats for Ecological, Evolutionary, and Applied Research” at the Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • Nishi presents a seminar titled “Serpentine: A model habitat for ecological, evolutionary, and applied research” to the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The seminar was organized by Plant Sciences Special students as part of a Mini Symposium on Serpentine Ecology
  • Nishi presents a lecture at the American Corner, Kandy, Sri Lanka titled “Travels of a Botanist: Following my passion for plants from Sri Lanka to North America and Beyond” as part of the Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month Speaker Program (May 12)

April 2017

March 2017

  • Nishi delivers two seminars at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University, Sri Lanka titled “Plants of ‘harsh’ soils: Model systems for ecological, evolutionary, and applied research” and “Opportunities for Undergraduate, Graduate, and Post-Doctoral Education in the United States” (March 30)
  • Nishi delivers a research seminar titled “Plants of ‘extreme’ soils: Model systems for ecological, evolutionary, and applied research” at the National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka (March 28)
  • Congratulations to Natasha Krell on winning a Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Award to do her field research in Kenya. Natasha is currently a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara
  • Nishi presents a paper titled ‘Evolutionary Ecology of Serpentine Plants’ at the 64th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of Japan, Waseda University, Tokyo (March 14)
  • Nishi presents a paper titled ‘Serpentine Flora of Sri Lanka’  at the South and Central Asia Fulbright Conference, Kolkata, West Bengal, India (March 7)
  • Paper Accepted: Galey, M. L., A. van der Ent, M. C.M. Iqbal, and N. Rajakaruna. 2017. Serpentine geoecology of South and Southeast Asia. Botanical Studies (in press)
  • Congratulations to former student Ian Medeiros, who will be joining the Lutzoni lab at Duke University this fall as a Ph.D. student studying the evolutionary biology of lichens

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  • Nishi to present at the South and Central Asia Fulbright Conference (March 6-9) in Kolkata, West Bengal, India

February 2017

  • The University Extension Lecture at Aligarh Muslim University organized by the Department of Botany titled “Plants of Harsh Soils: Models for Ecological, Evolutionary, and Applied Research.’ Images of audience and post-presentation discussion during ‘high tea’ dsc_0619dsc_0652dsc_0642
  • Nishi with some faculty and graduate students from the Department of Wild Life Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, India after a presentation on the ecology, evolution, and conservation of rock outcrop plant communitiesdsc01026dsc01021
  • Nishi interacts with 8th and 9th Grade Students at the Blossoms School, Aligarh, India after his presentation titled “My life as a biologist: Following my passion for nature from Sri Lanka to North America.”dsc01299dsc01291dsc01302
  • Nishi during and after a presentation at the Department of Museology, Aligarh Muslim University, India

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  • Lecture series advertised on Aligarh Muslim University, India campusimg_1148img_0709
  • Nishi visits Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, India to deliver a series of lectures (Feb 20-March 3)

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  • Congratulations to collaborator Denise Fernando on receiving a grant for research on serpentine plants of Sri Lanka: National Geographic Society, Research and Exploration Grant (2017) “Plant-manganese nutritional dynamics along a climatic gradient of disjunct serpentine ecosystems.” Principal Investigator: Denise R. Fernando; Project Investigator: N. Rajakaruna. $5500

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  • Nishi presents a seminar titled “Geoecology: Ecological, Evolutionary, and Applied Studies on Plants of ‘Harsh’ Soils” at the Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (Feb 2)

January 2017

  • Nishi accepts invitation to join the Editorial Board of the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) Journal (Feb 2017-)

“Plants will always find a way“img_0573Nishi at Ruhuna University, Matara, Sri Lanka (Jan 26 2017)

  • Nishi presents a guest lecture titled ‘Plants of ‘extreme’ soils: Model systems for ecological, evolutionary, and applied research‘ at the 4th Ruhuna International Science and Technology Conference, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lankaimg_0560img_0575
  • Nishi accepts offer to join the Editorial Board (Biological Sciences), Ruhuna Journal of Science (Jan 2017-)

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  • Nishi with a group of students after presenting a seminar titled ‘life as a biologist during and after Trinity‘ at his alma mater, Trinity College, Kandy

December 2016

  • Nishi receives a South and Central Asia Regional Travel Grant, The United States-India Educational Foundation (02/19-03/04, 2017) to visit the Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, India
  • Paper accepted: Medeiros, I. D., Mathieson, A. C., and N. Rajakaruna. 2017. Heavy Metals in Seaweeds from a Polluted Estuary in Coastal Maine. Rhodora (in press)

November 2016

  • Nishi talks about opportunities for higher education in the USA at the Open University, Nawala, Sri  Lanka
  • Paper accepted: Urban, A. J., Mittelhauser, G. H., Dickinson, M., and N. Rajakaruna. The Alpine Vascular Plants of Baxter State Park, Maine, USA. Rhodora (in press)
  • Nishi gives two seminars at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Botany at the Open University, Nawala, Sri Lanka

Nishi at Open University

October 2016

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September 2016

  • COA bids farewell (COA Magazine Fall 2016)
  • A photo of the Trees and Shrubs of Mount Desert Island class at College of the Atlantic highlighted in Sierra Club’s America’s Greenest Universities article

July 2016

June 2016

  • New paper: Stern, M., Medeiros, I. D., Negoita, L., and N. Rajakaruna. 2016. Limestone flora of the Simonton Corner Quarry Preserve, Rockport, Maine, USA. Rhodora 118: 206-226 (PDF; Supplementary Table)
  • Edible Botany highlighted on page 7 of Native Plant News of the New England Wild Flower Society (Spring/Summer issue)
  • Hot off the press: Stern et al. 2016 (proofs)

May 2016

  • Hot off the press: Negoita, L., Dickinson, M., Mittelhauser, G. H. and Rajakaruna, N. 2016. A Comparative Study of the Flora and Soils of Great Duck and Little Duck Islands, Maine, USA. Rhodora 118: 46-85 (PDF)
  • In the news: Mount Desert Islander news on the Fulbright Award; Bangor Daily News article

April 2016

  • Ian Medeiros submits an abstract for an oral presentation at the Botanical Society of America meeting in Savannah, Georgia July 30-Aug 3 2016
  • Student success at two recent geology meetings is highlighted here. Congratulations!
  • Hot off the press: Seneviratne, M., S. Gunaratne, T. Bandara, L. Weerasundara, N. Rajakaruna, H.M.S.P. Madawala, G. Seneviratne, and M. Vithanage. 2016. Plant growth promotion by Bradyrhizobium japonicum under heavy metal stress. South African Journal of Botany 105: 19-24 (PDF)
  • A poster presented by Ian Medeiros receives honorable mention: I. D. Medeiros and N. Rajakaruna. Documenting the Rocks, Soils, and Biota of Serpentinite Outcrops in Western Massachusetts. Geological Society of Maine 2016 Spring Meeting. University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA. 1 April 2016. Congratulations, Ian.

March 2016

  • Congratulations to Ian Medeiros on securing an internship with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program for summer 2016. Ian will be conducting vegetation surveys in coastal Texas and Florida as part of a multi-year study to fine-tune remote sensing of vegetation communities along the Gulf coast
  • Congratulations to Ella Samuel for securing an internship with the Santa Fe Bureau of Land Management through the Conservation and Land Management Internship Program out of the Chicago Botanic Garden
  • Paper accepted: Seneviratne, M., S. Gunaratne, T. Bandara, L. Weerasundara, N. Rajakaruna, H.M.S.P. Madawala, G. Seneviratne, and M. Vithanage. 2016. Plant growth promotion by Bradyrhizobium japonicum under heavy metal stress. South African Journal of Botany (in press)
  • Nishi accepts an offer for Associate Professor in Botany from the Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Start date yet to be finalized!

February 2016

  • Congratulations to Natasha Krell ’16 for getting into the graduate program at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University. She will be pursuing her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Kelly Caylor
  • Nishi receives funding from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey to visit Ankara University (Department of Biology) to initiate collaborative research on serpentine geoecology in June 2016
  • South Africa expedition is highlighted here
  • Chapter accepted: Boyd, R. S., Krell, N. T., and Rajakaruna, N. 2016. Extreme Environments. In: Oxford Bibliographies in Ecology. Ed. David Gibson. New York: Oxford University Press (in press)

January 2016

  • Ian, Nate, Alan Fryday, and Nishi are off to South Africa to collect lichens January 31-March 1! See press release 1, 2
  • Nishi is invited to the Department of Biology, Ankara University, Turkey to discuss collaborative research on serpentine geoecology. The visit will be funded by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)
  • Congratulations to former student Meg Trau on her admission to the graduate program in teaching at Brandeis University!
  • Congratulations to former student Jason Barton on his recent publication
  • Congratulations to Ella Samuel for winning the Craig W. Greene Memorial Scholarship in Botany (2015)

December 2015

  • Upcoming National Geographic-funded research on South African lichens highlighted here

November 2015

  • Paper accepted: Stern, M., Medeiros, I. D., Negoita, L., and N. Rajakaruna. 2016. Limestone flora of the Simonton Corner Quarry Preserve, Rockport, Maine, USA. Rhodora (in press)

October 2015

  • National Geographic Grant news on the MDI Islander October 8 2015

September 2015

  • Watch former botany student Ai Kitazumi talking about her Ph.D. research at University of Maine
  • Paper accepted: Negoita, L., Dickinson, M., Mittelhauser, G. H. and Rajakaruna, N. 2016. A Comparative Study of the Flora and Soils of Great Duck and Little Duck Islands, Maine, USA. Rhodora (in press)
  • Grant News: National Geographic Society, Research and Exploration Grant (2015) “Examining the role of substrate chemistry and climate on the diversity of lichen species in South Africa.” Principal Investigator: N. Rajakaruna; Project Investigators: A. M. Fryday, S. J. Siebert, I. D. Medeiros, R. B. Boneschans, and N. Pope. $17,850

August 2015

  • Paper accepted: Bandara, T., I. Herath, P. Kumarathilaka, M. Seneviratne, G. Seneviratne, N. Rajakaruna, and M.Vithanage. Role of fungal-bacterial co-inoculation and woody biochar on soil enzyme activity and heavy metal immobilization in serpentine soil. Journal of Soils and Sediments (online access; PDF)

July 2015

  • COA herbarium is highlighted in the Wild Seed Magazine. The article concludes by noting that “At COA, the aggregate information, stored and preserved in a relatively small room, is mouthwatering–and beautiful–to anyone interested in native plants.”

June 2015

Part 2

Available here

AJB_Special Issue

Available here

May 2015

  • Issues 1-2 (part 1) of the Proceedings of the Serpentine Ecology Conference held in Sabah, Malaysia (2014) is out! See introduction to the Proceedings here
  • Congratulations to Luka Negoita ’11 and Nate Pope ’07 for their appointments as Research Associates at College of the Atlantic (COA). Along with Tanner Harris ’06 (current Research Associate) they will help promote undergraduate research in plant ecology at COA by sharing their expertise in ecological methods, data analyses, and technical writing

April 2015

March 2015

  • Luka Negoita ’11 wins the 2015 Sigma Xi Student Research Showcase (Graduate Division Award) for the video describing his Ph.D. research. Congratulations, Luka!
  • Heather Brown has been offered a NSF-REU position at San Francisco State University. She will conduct research on ammonia-oxidizing archaea under the supervision of Dr. de la Torre. Congratulations, Heather!
  • Check out this video on Luka Negoita’s Ph.D. research. Luka did his senior project on the flora and soils of Little Duck Island, Maine.
  • Paper accepted: Burgess, J.L., Szlavecz, K., Rajakaruna, N., and Swan, C.M. 2015. Ecotypic Differentiation of mid-Atlantic Quercus species in response to Ultramafic Soils. Australian Journal of Botany (in press)
  • Chris Phillips has been hired as a field technician at University of Montana’s Forest Ecology Lab. Chris will assist Ph.D. student David Wright on his research on stand development in second growth western larch-mixed conifer forests. Congratulations, Chris!
  • Paper accepted: Gall, J. E.**, Boyd R. S., and N. Rajakaruna. Transfer of heavy metals through terrestrial food webs: A review. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (in press)
  • Congratulations to Liam Torrey for winning the Zeller Summer Scholarship in Medicinal Botany from the Garden Club of America! Liam will use the funding for independent research on environmental influences on antimicrobial activity of lemon balm
  • Paper accepted: Van der Ent, A., N. Rajakaruna, R. S. Boyd, G. Echevarria, R. Repin, and D. Williams. 2015. Global Research on the Ecology of Ultramafic (Serpentine) Ecosystems (8th International Conference in Serpentine Ecology, Sabah, Malaysia): a summary and synthesis. Australian Journal of Botany (in press)

February 2015:

  • Ian Medeiros receives a Shelby Cullom Davis Student International Studies Award to attend the Botanical Society of America meeting this summer. Ian will present his ongoing research on lichen systematics at this meeting. Congratulations!
  • Paper accepted: Seneviratne, M., Seneviratne,G., Madawala, H.M.S.P. Iqbal, M.C.M., Rajakaruna, N. and Vithanage, M. 2015. Role of bacterial-fungal interactions on heavy metal phytotoxicity in serpentine soil. Australian Journal of Botany (in press)
  • Upcoming seminar (February 13) on Evolutionary Ecology of Serpentine Plants
  • Les Mehrhoff Botanical Research Fund, administered by the New England Botanical Club, has awarded Ian Medeiros a grant to support his research project titled, “Documenting the serpentine biota of Massachusetts: A study of the plant and lichen diversity of serpentine outcrops in Massachusetts, USA.” Congratulations, Ian!
  • Paper accepted: Medeiros, I. D., Rajakaruna, N. and Alexander, E. B. 2015. Gabbro Soil-Plant Relations in the California Floristic Province. Madrono (in press)
  • Paper accepted: Venter, A., A. Levanets, S. Siebert, and N. Rajakaruna. 2015. A preliminary survey of the diversity of soil algae and cyanoprokaryotes on mafic and ultramafic substrates in South Africa. Australian Journal of Botany (in press)

December 2014:

  • Paper accepted: Chathuranga, P. K. D., S. K. A. T. Dharmasena, N. Rajakaruna, and M. C. M. Iqbal. Growth and nickel uptake by serpentine and non-serpentine populations of Fimbristylis ovata (Cyperaceae) from Sri Lanka. Australian Journal of Botany (in press)
  • Paper accepted: Ghasemi, R., Z. Zare Chavoshi, R. S. Boyd, and N. Rajakaruna. Calcium:magnesium ratio affects environmental stress sensitivity in the serpentine endemic Alyssum inflatum Nyár. (Brassicaceae). Australian Journal of Botany (in press)
  • Paper accepted: Burgess, J.L., Szlavecz, K., Rajakaruna, N., Lev, S. and Swan, C.M. Vegetation Dynamics and Mesophication in Response to Conifer Encroachment within an Ultramafic System.  Australian Journal of Botany (in press)

November 2014:

  • Suzie Woolhouse has just returned from a year and a half traveling and volunteering in Europe. She has accepted a position as a naturalist at the Mendocino Outdoor Science School for Spring 2015.

October 2014:

  • Recent Edible Botany field trip on mycology is highlighted here
  • Garden Club of America-COA relations highlighted here
  • Success with Garden Club of America Scholarships is highlighted on page 20 of their Fall Bulletin
  • Announcement for the lecture on Edible Botany, Ural Federal University, Russia (October 21)
  • Russian visit highlighted here

Final Day_Ural Federal University 074Final Day_Ural Federal University 192Final Day_Ural Federal University 086IMG_3402IMG_3267

  • Congratulations to Natasha Krell on winning two awards for her poster presentation titled ‘Dynamic Pulse-Driven Flowering Phenology in a Semiarid Shrubland.’
    PROSE – Phenology Research and Observations in Southwest Ecosystems. Awarded 2nd best student poster overall.

    RISE – Research Insights in Semiarid Ecosystems. Awarded best undergraduate student poster presentation.

  • Edible Botany class highlighted in COA’s Sustainable Food Systems Newsletter (Fall 2014, issue 1: pp. 14-15; PDF)

September 2014:

  • Adjunct faculty profile at San Jose State highlighted (see page 7)
  • Subscribe to & Publish in RHODORA

August 2014:

  • Announcing ……

Plant Ecology 978-1-63321-955-7

  • In the news at the New England Botanical Club’s what’s new site
  • Paper accepted: Herath, I., P. Kumarathilaka, A. Navaratne, N. Rajakaruna, and M. Vithanage. 2014. Immobilization and phytotoxicity reduction of heavy metals in serpentine soil using biochar. Journal of Soils and Sediments (in press)

July 2014:

  • Ian Medeiros in the news!
  • Chapter accepted for publication in Oxford Bibliographies in Ecology: Rajakaruna, Nishanta; Boyd, Robert. “Geoecology.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Ecology. Ed. David Gibson. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
  • Ian Medeiros ’16 wins the Barbra D. May Scholarship from the National Garden Club and another scholarship from the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts. Congratulations Ian! Ian’s success is highlighted here.

June 2014:

  • Ian Medeiros wins the Craig W. Greene Memorial Scholarship in Botany
  • Institute of Natural Sciences at the Ural Federal University, Russia invites Nishi Rajakaruna to visit as a guest lecturer from October 16-25 2014

May 2014:

  • Call for Papers: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Serpentine Ecology (Guest eds. Antony van der Ent, Rimi Repin, Guillaume Echevarria, Robert Boyd, and Nishanta Rajakaruna)
  • Congratulations to Jose Perez Orozco for completing his Master’s in Sustainable Development Practice at the University of Florida

April 2014:

  • Congratulations to Naveed Davoodian for receiving a graduate student fellowship to study fungi specimens at the Farlow Herbarium, Harvard University

March 2014:

  • Congratulations to Ian Medeiros for his success in securing a summer research position with the Field Museum, Chicago, IL. Ian will work on a lichen project under the supervision of Dr. Robert Lücking (Adjunct Curator and Collections Manager, Botany) and Dr. Thorsten Lumbsch (Curator, Botany and Associate Director, Integrative Research Center)
  • Paper hot off the press: Barton, J., Ciccotelli, B., Gall, J. E., Olday, F. C.,  Connery, B.,  T. B. Harris, A. M. Fryday, and N. Rajakaruna. 2014. Lichens of six vernal pools in Acadia National Park, ME, USA. Evansia 31: 31-39 (PDF; undergraduate senior project of Jason Barton)

February 2014:

  • Paper accepted February 24 2014: Medeiros, I. D., Fryday, A. M., and N. Rajakaruna. 2014. Additional lichen records and minerological data from metal-contaminated sites in Maine.  Rhodora (in press)
  • Recent publication highlighted on COA’s Newsworthy
  • Congratulations to Nathaniel Maddix for getting accepted to the M.Sc. program in Ethnobotany at the University of Kent, UK. Nathaniel starts Fall 2014.
  • Congratulations to Blue N. Sky for winning a Maine Space Grant Consortium Research Fellowship ($500) for her proposal on establishing a medicinal plant garden for teaching, research, and outreach activities at the Peggy Rockefeller Farm, College of the Atlantic, Maine
  • Congratulations to Ian D. Medeiros for winning a Maine Space Grant Consortium Research Fellowship ($500) for his ongoing research on lichens of granitic and serpentinite outcrops of Deer Isles, Maine
  • Congratulations to Paul Excoffier for winning a Maine Space Grant Consortium Research Fellowship ($2000) for his ongoing research on bryophytes of vernal pools of Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, Maine
  • Grant Received: Maine Sea Grant Program Development Fund (2014) “Investigating Metal Accumulation by Seaweeds at the Callahan Mine Superfund Site, Brooksville, Hancock Co., Maine, USA”.  Principal Investigators: Ian D. Medeiros and Nishanta Rajakaruna. $2050
  • Paper accepted February 9: Mansfield, M., Pope, N., Mittlehauser, G., and N. Rajakaruna. 2014. Diversity and Soil-Tissue Elemental Relations of Vascular Plants of Callahan Mine, Brooksville, Maine, USA. Rhodora (in press)

January 2014:

  • Paper accepted on January 27 – Ghasemi, R., Chavoshi, Z. Z.,  Boyd, R. S., and N. Rajakaruna. 2014. A preliminary study of the role of nickel in enhancing flowering of the nickel hyperaccumulating plant Alyssum inflatum Nyár. (Brassicaceae). South African Journal of Botany (in press)
  • Grant Received: The Department of the Interior, National Park Service (2014) “Train students in herbarium management and catalog herbarium specimens for public education and research.” Principal Investigator: N. Rajakaruna. $15,275
  • Ian’s recent research is highlighted here. Congratulations Ian!
  • Paper accepted on January 1 – Vithanage, M., Rajapaksha, A. U, Oze, C., Rajakaruna, N. and C.B. Dissanayake. 2014. Metal release from serpentine soils in Sri Lanka. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (in press)

November 2013:

  • Book contract signed with Nova Science Publishers: Rajakaruna, N., R. S. Boyd, and T. B. Harris, eds. (2014). Plant Ecology and Evolution in Harsh Environments. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., NY, USA (under preparation)

October 2013:

  • COA highlights botany publications by Jill Gall ’13 and Nishi Rajakaruna
  • Paper accepted: Rajakaruna, Nishanta; Boyd, Robert. “Serpentine soils.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Ecology. Ed. David Gibson. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming

September 2013:

May 2013:

April 2013:

  • Congratulations to Ella Samuel for securing an internship with graduate student Sean Cahoon from Eric Post’s lab. Ella will be spending the summer near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
  • Katie Jumper gets into San Francisco State University, CA to pursue a Master’s under the supervision of Dr. Dennis Desjardin. She has, however, decided to join Humboldt State University, CA to work under the supervision of Dr. Terry Henkel.
  • Ian Medeiros and other botany-focused students at COA put together websites for the greenhouse and herbarium. Thank you for your efforts!
  • Paper Hot off the Press (PDF) – collaborative project with former COA & SJSU students and Dr. Bob Boyd
  • Marketa Doubnerova is hired as a naturalist intern at Foothill Horizons, CA. She will join the instructional staff this June. Hazel Stark and Brianna Larsen also worked for Foothill Horizons in 2011 & 2012, respectively. Congratulations Marketa!
  • Miranda Galey is offered another internship at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Looks like Miranda will accept this internship instead of the one listed just below. Congratulations on getting two fantastic offers!
  • Miranda Galey is offered an internship at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Congratulations on your ecological modelling REU!
  • Dr. Fred Olday, who is currently teaching lichen biology at COA, receives a grant to conduct a lichen inventory of one of the the Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s coastal preserves. Congratulations Fred! Fred has co-authored many papers on lichens and bryophytes with COA students (See pub #s 44, 37, 31, 18, 16 here https://nrajakaruna.wordpress.com/publications/)

March 2013:

  • Nate Pope wins a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Nate is currently pursuing his Ph.D. with Dr. Shalene Jha
  • Katie Jumper gets into the graduate program in biology at Humboldt State University to work under the supervision of Dr. Terry Henkel. Congratulations on your third acceptance with funding. We await your decision.
  • Hazel Stark ’11 is hired as an Environmental Education Instructor for Appalachian Mountain Club’s A Mountain Classroom program. She starts April 1. Congratulations!
  • Maggie Mansfield ’11 will return to northern California this summer to work as a research assistant for Dr. Hugh Safford, US Forest Service. Congratulations on this position
  • Paper accepted: Pope, N., Fong, M., Boyd, R., and N. Rajakaruna. 2013. The role of elevation and soil chemistry in the distribution and ion accumulation of floral morphs of Streptanthus polygaloides Gray (Brassicaceae), a Californian nickel hyperaccumulator. Plant Ecology and Diversity (in press)

February 2013:

  • Liz Robertson (former student SJSU) accepts an offer from the Dynamic Ecosystems and Landscapes Lab at Portland State University to start her master’s research in the fall of 2013. Congratulations Liz!
  • Katie Jumper (COA visiting research student – 2010 onwards) gets accepted to the Ph.D. program at George Washington University. Congratulations Katie. Katie applied to work under the supervision of Dr. Amy Zanne. Katie is waiting to hear from several other programs she has applied for before making her final decision.
  • Paper accepted: Boyd, Robert; Rajakaruna, Nishanta. “Heavy Metal Tolerance.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Ecology. Ed. David Gibson. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming
  • Philip B. Kunhardt ’11 (COA) gets into the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies for his graduate studies.  Congratulations! He starts his studies Fall 2013 and will work under the supervision of Dr. Mark S. Ashton.
  • COA students Erica Georgaklis (medicinal plant botany), Will Batt (phytoremediation), and Ian Medeiros (plant evolutionary ecology) have won Maine Space Grant Consortium Research Fellowships for botanical research. Congratulations!

January 2013:

October 2012:

  • Paper hot off the press (PDF)

September 2012:

  • Paper hot off the press (PDF)
  • Paper hot off the press (PDF)

August 2012:

  • Suzie Woolhouse’s MS Thesis on the ecology of rare Monardella (Lamiaceae) species is approved by the Grad Studies at San Jose State, CA – meaning she is now DONE! Congratulations!!!

July 2012:

  • Congratulations to Anna Fialkoff for getting accepted to the Conway School to pursue a Master’s in Sustainable Landscape Design and Planning. She starts this Fall.
  • Katie Jumper presents a poster at the Mycological Society of America Annual Meeting: Jumper, K. Porter, D. and Rajakaruna, N.  2012.  Diversity and Heavy Metal Uptake of Macrofungi found on Serpentine and Granite Outcrops on the Deer Isles, Maine, USA.  Poster presented at the Conference of the Mycological Society of America, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, July 15-19.

June 2012:

  • Recent paper on Lasthenia cited in Science along with a photo of Nishi’s on the serpentine at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, CA
  • Nishi gives an invited seminar titled ‘Parallel Speciation in the Lasthenia californica complex (Asteraceae)’ at the Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada (June 26)
  • Tanner Harris becomes a Research Associate at COA. Congratulations
  • Casie Reed publishes her first paper in Nature Medicine. How cool is that?
  • Paper accepted for publication: Bieger, A., N. Rajakaruna, and S. P. Harrison. 2012. Little evidence for local adaptation to soils or microclimate in the postfire recruitment of three Californian shrubs. Plant Ecology and Diversity (in press)

May 2012:

  • Paper accepted for publication: T. B. Harris, N. Rajakaruna, S. J. Nelson, and P. D. Vaux.  2012. Stressors and Threats to the Flora of Acadia National Park, Maine: Current Knowledge, Information Gaps, and Future Directions. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society (in press)
  • Congratulations to Sarah Neilson for getting into the Master’s program in Agriculture with a focus on Systems and Sustainability at the University of Copenhagen.
  • Congratulations to Meg Trau for securing a Collections Curatorial Assistant position at the Museum of Science in Boston. She will also be working as the Exhibit Development Intern at the Ecotarium in Wocester, MA. Meg starts both these positions right after she graduates early June
  • Nishi’s recent trip to South Africa highlighted on COA’s Newsworthy Webpage

April 2012:

  • Congratulations to Margaret Stern for winning the Summer Environmental Studies Scholarship from the Garden Club of America to conduct her senior project research on plant-soil relations of limestone in Rockland/Thomaston, Maine
  • Paper hot off the press in American Journal of Botany: Yost, J. M., Barry, T., Kay, K.M. and N. Rajakaruna. 2012. Edaphic adaptation maintains the coexistence of two cryptic species on serpentine soil. American Journal of Botany 99 (5): xx-xx. (online version)
  • Congratulations to Eva Dannenberg for getting into the graduate program in Environmental Science (focus Environmental Education) at Antioch University, New England.
  • Congratulations to Jessica Hardy for getting into the graduate program in Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport, CT.
  • Margaret Stern (poster presentation), Jason Barton (poster presentation), Katie Jumper (poster presentation) and Luka Negoita (oral presentation) attend the Northeast Natural History Conference in Syracuse, NY. Nishi moderates the session in Plant Ecology and gives an oral presentation on the geoecology of eastern North America.
  • Amy Behnke (San Jose State University), former botany student, gets into vet school at Auburn University. Amy is currently working with me in geo-referencing herbarium specimens on a NSF-funded project at the Carl W. Sharsmith Herbarium. Congratulations on your success!
  • Paper accepted in The Lichenologist: Rajakaruna, N., Knudsen, K., Fryday, A., O’Dell, R. E., Pope, N., Olday, F. C.,  and S. Woolhouse.  2012. Investigation of the importance of rock chemistry for saxicolous lichen communities of the New Idria serpentinite mass, San Benito County, California, USA (in press)

March 2012:

  • Paper accepted in Northeastern Naturalist: Davoodian, N., J. Bosworth, and N. Rajakaruna. Mycorrhizal colonization of Hypericum perforatum L. (Hypericaceae) on adjacent serpentine and granite outcrops on the Deer Isles, Maine, USA.  Northeastern Naturalist (in press)
  • Jill Gall is successful in securing a second summer internship. She has been offered a NSF-REU position with the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University. Looks like the offer comes a little too late as she has already accepted the offer from Chicago Botanic Garden.  Congratulations on your success.
  • Maggie Mansfield is offered a position in plant ecology at the Plumas National Forest, Quincy, CA! She will be working under the supervision of Drs. Erik Jules and Hugh Safford. Congratulations Maggie!
  • Vivian Lambert’s Senior Project will be on show March 26-30. Vivian has combined her two passions, healing with plants and art, in an amazing collection of pottery and paintings.
  • We receive NSF funding to digitize the 1500 macrofungi in our herbarium. The funding will provide digitizing equipment and summer salary for a student assistant for both 2012 & 2013. Click on link to see the participating institutions (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/GrantsMap.html)
  • Hazel Stark wins the Best Student Oral Presentation at the Northeast Natural History Conference 2011. Her presentation was titled ‘Plants and people of New England: our contemporary reliance on traditional knowledge.’ A belated congratulations!
  • Casie Reed will soon join North Carolina State University to do her MS under the supervision of Dr. Alexander Krings. Congratulations on your success!
  • Congratulations to Casie Reed for getting accepted with funding to the
    following graduate programs in plant ecology: Central Michigan
    University, Northwestern University, and North Carolina State
    University (all M.S. programs). She is still waiting for an admissions decision from Florida International University/Fairchild (a PhD program). We await Casie’s decision.
  • Paper accepted in American Journal of Botany: Yost, J. M., Barry, T., Kay, K.M. and N. Rajakaruna. Edaphic adaptation maintains the coexistence of two cryptic species on serpentine soil. American Journal of Botany (in press)
  • Exciting news! Nate Pope accepts the offer from University of Texas (Austin) to pursue his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Shalene Jha. Congratulations!
  • Luka Negoita accepts the offer from Syracuse University to pursue his Ph.D. with Dr. Jason Fridley. Congratulations!

Jan-Feb 2012:

  • Nate Pope has been accepted for Ph.D. positions at UC Davis (to work with Dr. Neal Williams) and at University of Texas, Austin (to work with Dr. Shalene Jha). Congratulations…we await Nate’s decision….
  • Jill Gall and Margaret Stern receive Maine Space Grant Consortium Fellowships to pursue their research on plant-insect interactions and limestone vegetation, respectively. Congratulations!

================================

Online Interviews:

Education and Career Guidance in Botany

US Embassy Interview

A walk with a serpentinophile

Becoming a botanist

In the News:

Serpentine Research at Deer Isles, Maine

Garden Club of America Scholarships_2011

Eco-Education (PDF here)

Grants for Botany

Serpentine Ecology Conference 2008

Return to COA

Soil and Biota of Serpentine: A World View

The Scientist

College of Science, SJSU NEWS

Blazing Star, CNPS March-April 2009

Spartan Daily, SJSU – Botany Garden

Personal Notes on Botanical Topics:

An encounter with the First People of Sri Lanka (see page 49; PDF)

Botanical Electronic News – BEN #245 (Dedicated to Art Kruckeberg)

Botanical Electronic News – BEN #313

Ecology/Botany Internships/Jobs, Graduate School Opportunities, & Grants – Useful Links:

National Science Foundation REUs

Ecological Society of America

Ecological Society of America: Physiological Ecology Section

EvolDir

Botany Facilities at San Jose State University:

Botany Garden

Carl W. Sharsmith Herbarium

Useful Botany, Ecology, & Evolution Links Links:

New England Botanical Club

California Native Plant Society

California Botanical Society

Botanical Society of America

Jepson Online Interchange

Integrated Taxonomic Information System

USDA Plants Database

International Plant Names Index

Society for the Study of Evolution

Former research team from San Jose State University, CA (2009)


(From L) Jessica Celis, Teri Barry, Nishi Rajakaruna, Suzie Woolhouse, Johann
Zaroli, and Jennifer Cross posing for a photo during a Sunday afternoon hike.

Suzie Woolhouse (MS student, SJSU) posing with Dr. Fred Olday (Adjunct Faculty, COA and current research collaborator)


EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

  • Badminton News

MDI YMCA Open 2005

US Senior Nationals 2006

MDI YMCA Open 2007 Spring (a, b)

MDI YMCA Open 2007 Fall (a, b, c)

MDI YMCA Open 2013 Spring

MDI YMCA Open 2013 Fall

MDI YMCA Open 2013 Fall_Oct 17 2013

MDI OPEN Fall 2013_COA NEWS (PDF)

MDI OPEN Fall 2014_YMCA news (MDI Islander Photo & Caption)

Maine State Badminton Championship_2015

MDI YMCA Open 2016_Doubles_April 09

Badminton Open_May 14 2016 (PDF)

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