Sophie Taddeo (PI). I am a Conservation Scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Northwestern University. I received a PhD from the University of California – Berkeley working with Dr. Iryna Dronova on remote sensing-based strategies to monitor restored wetlands. Before that, I completed a MSc degree at McGill University working with Dr. Sylvie de Blois on pathways of invasion by non-native species in wetlands.

 

Alexandra (Ali) Touloupas is a Master’s student studying rare species and habitat suitability modeling. She is interested in using GIS to model the current and future distributions of rare Illinois Plants of Concern species under changing climate conditions. Previously, she worked for botanical gardens and conservation organizations to monitor rare species and collect seed for restoration.

 

Jack Schooley is a Master’s student studying the effects of urbanization on Indigenous ethnobotany. He is interested in developing decolonizing methodologies that would recenter conservation studies around knowledge systems developed by the original peoples of what is now North America. He has previously worked as an intern at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.