May 2023

• Emma Fryer and TJ Samojedny win the outstanding Graduate Student and Outstanding Undergraduate Student Awards, respectively, from the College of Science and Mathematics at Cal Poly! Congratulations to both – they earned it!

• Three more presentations in Madagascar at the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar Biodiversity Center, and the American Corner! Had a great time meeting with Malagasy scientists and ~150 Malagasy students

• Two presentations in Madagascar: first for the biology students at the University of Antananarivo (May 4) and the second to the staff and students of the Missouri Botanical Garden of Madagascar (May 5)!

• Paper Hot off the Press

• Congratulations to TJ Samojedny on his third, first-author, peer-reviewed publication!

Samojedny, T. J. Jr., K. Balkwill, N. Rajakaruna and S. J. Siebert. 2023. Testing the suitability of portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analysis of dried herbarium specimens to detect Ni hyperaccumulators in South Africa. South African Journal of Botany (in press)

April 2023

• A great time meeting with and presenting my research to botany students at the Mafikeng Campus of North-West University

• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for winning the Best Oral Presentation Award at the recently concluded California Botanical Society’s Graduate Student Symposium.

Fryer, E. R., R. E. O’Dell, and N. Rajakaruna. 2023. Niche, competition, and soils shape a floral mosaic on vertic clay soils in California’s San Joaquin Desert. Paper presented at the California Botanical Society 29th Graduate Student Symposium, Arcata, California (April 1-3)

• Had an excellent time presenting my research on serpentine geoecology to students at the University of Limpopo (March 31) and North-West University, Mafikeng Campus (April 4).

March 2023

• Had a fun time meeting with students and presenting my research to students at University of Cape Town (March 22)

• Had a great time with a lecture and discussion with Environmental Botany students at North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for successfully defending her MSc. Thesis on the diversity and community assembly of vertic clay endemic plants of the San Joaquin Desert. Well done, Emma! Emma will soon join the Plant Ecology Group at ETH, Zurich to pursue her Ph.D.

February 2023

• Cal Poly’s Fulbright US Scholar Success in the Cal Poly Reports

• Cal Poly named Top Producer of Fulbright US Scholar Awards. See Press Release here

• It was a pleasure giving two seminars at the Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Pretoria (Feb 28) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute, National Botanical Gardens, Pretoria (Feb 27) on Ecology and Evolution of Serpentine Plants!

• Paper accepted: Siebert, S. J., S. Palacio, A. L. Luzuriaga, G. Maggs-Kölling, E. Marais, S. Matesanz, M. Prieto, Y. Pueyo, N. Rajakaruna, A. M. Sánchez, and S. Claassens. GYPWORLD Africa: Setting an agenda for gypsum ecosystem research in southern Africa (South African Journal of Science; in press)

January 2023

• Had a great time attending the 48th South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) Meeting in Limpopo, South Africa. Congratulations to undergraduates Charl Clarke and Lanja Oosthuizen (NWU) for winning the best poster in plant ecology award

• A Special Issue on The Ecology and Evolution of Plants in Harsh Environments is hot off the press in Plant Ecology and Diversity. Check it out here

• Michael Mulroy successfully defends his M.Sc. Thesis on Lichens of ultramafic and sandstones outcrops along a coast-inland gradient in central California. Congratulations, Michael!

• TJ Samojedny’s visit to South Africa highlighted in Cal Poly News

• Paper by undergraduate student, Samojedny, T. J. Jr., is now available online

December 2022

• Paper Accepted: Picó, F. X., R. J. Abbott, L. D. Llambi, N. Rajakaruna, A. S. T. Papadopulos, and L. Nagy. 2023. Introduction to Special Issue: The ecology and evolution of plants in extreme environments. Plant Ecology and Diversity; in press, https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2022.2164703

• Undergraduate student, TJ, has a first-author paper accepted: Samojedny, T. J. Jr., C. Garnica-Díaz, D. Grossenbacher, G. C. Adamidis, P. G. Dimitrakopoulos, S. J. Siebert, M. J. Spasojevic, C. M. Hulshof, N. Rajakaruna. 2023. Specific leaf area is lower on ultramafic than on neighbouring non-ultramafic soils. Plant Ecology and Diversity; in press, https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2022.2160673

• Nishi receives an award for ‘Exceptional Contribution to Research Excellence,’ from the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa (2022)

• Nishi gives a keynote presentation to students, staff and faculty on ENVIRA Day, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

• Nishi wins his first photography awards at North-West University’s ENVIRA Photography Competition: First Place, Macro-organism/Wild Life Photo Category, Professional Cameras. Photo Caption: Blue Cranes in Namaqualand: South Africa’s National Bird on a Carpet of Native Spring Wildflowers; Second Place, Funny Features and Creatures, Lower Quality Cameras. Photo Caption: The Joy of Discovery – A Botanist Encounters a ‘New’ Plant!

November 2022

• TJ Samojedny, undergraduate research student from the Geoecology Lab at Cal Poly visits the Geoecology Lab at North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

• Nishi gives a presentation to Prof. María Prieto Álvaro’s Plant Diversity class (Biodiversidad de plantas), Department of Biology and Geology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain

October 2022

• Contributions to Envira 2022 (Spring Edition)

• Nishi gives presentation to 3^rd and 4^th year Geology students at the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom South Africa

September 2022

• Nishi gives a keynote presentation at the session on Plant life on atypical substrates in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems, MEDECOS 2020, Langebaan, South Africa
• Awards highlighted in the Intersections Magazine of College of Science and Mathematics at Cal Poly

• Paper HOT off the press (PDF)
• Cal Poly Convocation 2022: Award Ceremony
• Paper Accepted: Eskandari, B. S., M. S. Gahrouei, R. S. Boyd, N. Rajakaruna, R. Ghasemi. Physiological responses to lead and PEG-simulated drought stress in metallicolous and non-metallicolous Matthiola (Brassicaceae) species from Iran. South African Journal of Botany (in press)
• Fall Convocation Awards for Distinguished Teaching and Scholarship. Thank you, Cal Poly!

July 2022

• North-West University News on Fulbright visit
• Upcoming visit highlighted in the North-West University’s Newsletter

• Congratulations to Michael Mulroy and Amanda Gersoff for their hot off the press review on lichens of ultramafic rocks in North America (PDF)
• Fulbright and Cal Poly Awards – Press Release

June 2022

• Chapter Hot off the Press! Congratulations to undergraduate research students, TJ, Mary, and Rebekah!!!

Samojedny, T.J., Devlin, M., Shane, R., and Rajakaruna, N. 2022. The effects of nitrogen enrichment on low nutrient environments: Insights from studies of serpentine soil-plant relations. In: Naeem, M., Bremont, J.F.J., Ansari, A.A., Gill, S.S. (eds) Agrochemicals in Soil and Environment. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9310-6_13 (PDF)

• Paul Excoffier successfully defends his MS thesis on June 8. Congratulations, Paul!
• Nishi wins the Distinguished Teaching Award and Distinguished Scholarship Award for 2021-2022!

May 2022

• BOT 121 Learn by Eating highlighted in Cal Poly News
• Paper HOT off the press in The Botanical Review

April 2022

• Fulbright US Scholar Success at Cal Poly: NEWS

• Congratulations to Chloe Hodge (R) and Jujú Eulensen-Wallace (L) for receiving Frost Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships to study cryptogam diversity (lichens and bryophytes) along a sodic gradient in Carrizo Plain National Monument!

• Paper Accepted: Garnica-Díaz, C. et al. Global plant ecology of tropical ultramafic ecosystems. The Botanical Review (in press)
• Fulbright US Scholar Success at Cal Poly: Press Release
• Article on the upcoming visit to South Africa in ENVIRA, Unit of Environmental Sciences and Management Newsletter, North-West University

• Nishi receives Fulbright US Scholar Award to South Africa

March 2022

• Congratulations to Michael Mulroy and Amanda Gersoff for getting their publication into Botany (Canadian Journal of Botany). Pre-proof version just appeared online!
• Congratulations to Rosie Deak for successfully defending her MSc. thesis today!

• Nishi is awarded the Torrey Monograph Award, Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society (2023)

February 2022

• Nishi joins the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Plant Science as an Associate Editor for specialty section Functional Plant Ecology
• Michael’s paper accepted: Mulroy, M., Fryday, A. M., Gersoff, A., Dart, J., Næsborg, R. R., and N. Rajakaruna. 2022. Lichens of Ultramafic Substrates in North America: A Review. Botany (in press)

December 2021

• Paper Hot off the Press: PDF

Graphical Abstract: A field survey of all known Sri Lankan ultramafic outcrops revealed high levels of plant diversity (132 species in 44 families) and rediscovered the facultative nickel hyperaccumulator Rinorea bengalensis (Violaceae)

November 2021

• Paper with 2 Cal Poly undergraduate authors accepted: Fernando, D. R., A. van der Ent, M., H. A. S. Weerasinghe, D. S. A. Wijesundera, G. W. A. R. Fernando, A. E. Fernando, M. C.M. Iqbal, C. H. Miranda, J. M. Gosse, Y. A. S. Samithri and N. Rajakaruna. Assessment of plant diversity and foliar chemistry on the Sri Lankan ultramafics reveals inconsistencies in the metal hyperaccumulator trait. Ecological Research (in press)

October 2021

• Paper hot off the press: Science of the Total Environment

September 2021

• Paper accepted: Adhikari, S., J. M. Silva, N. Rajakaruna, and S. J. Siebert. Influence of land use and topography on distribution and bioaccumulation of potentially toxic metals in soil and plant leaves: A case study from Sekhukhuneland, South Africa. Science of the Total Environment (in press)
• Nishi joins the Editorial Board of Plant and Soil

August 2021

• Our research on lichens highlighted in the Cal Poly News

July 2021

• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for winning the Paul Silva Student Research Grant from the California Botanical Society!
• New Lichen Genus Discovery in Veld & Flora

June 2021

• Article on lichen discovery in South Africa ‘in press’ in Veld&Flora
• Skyler Mckinnon and Alyssa Shon join the Geoecology Lab as Summer Undergraduate Research Students. Congratulations on your Frost Fellowships and welcome to the lab!
• Awarded Tenure and Promotion to Full Professor! Thank YOU, Cal Poly!

May 2021

April 2021

• Highlighted under Faculty Expert Guide: Plants & Soils
• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for winning one of Torrey Botanical Society’s Graduate Student Research Fellowships! Well done, Emma!
• Paper accepted: Naikoo, M. I., Khan F, A., Noureldeen, A., Rinklebe, J., Sonne, C., Rajakaruna, N., Ahmad, P.  2021. Biotransfer, Bioaccumulation and Detoxification of Nickel along the Soil- Faba Bean-Aphid-Ladybird Food Chain.  Science of the Total Environment (in press)

March 2021

• Life in the dorms during a pandemic: A Mustang News Story
• Congratulations to Rosie M-Deak for winning the 2021 California Native Grassland Association’s Grassland Research Awards for Student Scholarship
• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for winning the Garden Club of America’s Summer Scholarship in Field Botany!
• Congratulations to Dylan Stephens for his success in securing a seasonal forest ecology and botany field crew position with the lab of Dr. Hugh Safford at UC Davis/US Forest Service!

February 2021

• Congratulations to former undergraduate research students for their success in securing jobs/grad school positions during the pandemic: Zach Raposo (GIS Analyst @ Althouse and Meade, Inc.), Mary Devlin (US Forest Service, Botany Technician @ Feather River Ranger District), Peter Walsh (Utility Forester for PG&E in Santa Cruz), Sam Farrow (MS student in Controlled Environment Agriculture, Department of Applied Biosciences, University of Arizona), Kaito Lopez (Botanist @ Terra Verde Environmental Consulting in San Luis Obispo), Alex Pena (Sawtooth Hotshots – a fire crew in Twin Falls, ID, a position with the U. S. Forest Service.), Anthony Ferrero (Utility Forester for PG&E in Sonoma), and Chris Howington (Soil Conservationist, US Department of Agriculture (NRCS) in Petaluma)
• Paper titled “Seasonal Impact of Phosphate-Based Fire Retardants on Soil Chemistry Following the Prophylactic Treatment of Vegetation” hot off the press

January 2021

• Congratulations to Michael Mulroy for winning the Malcolm McLeod Scholarship from the California Native Plant Society, San Luis Obispo Chapter!
• Grad-undergrad student research collaboration highlighted in the Frost Fund Annual Report (2019-2020)
• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for yet another grant! Emma wins the Hardman Native Plant Research Award from the California Native Plant Society!
• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for winning the Southern California Botanist’s Jessica Mae Orozco Diversity Grant for 2020. Looks like 2021 is off to a great start for Emma and Eli!
• Congratulations to Eli Balderas for winning a grant from the California Lichen Society for his MS research project “An Ecological Study of an Endangered Lichen from Central California, Sulcaria isidiifera, the Splitting Yarn Lichen”. Great way to start the new year!

December 2020

• Congratulations to TJ Samojedny for winning an Undergraduate Research Scholarship from the California Native Plant Society, Santa Clara Valley Chapter
• Congratulations to Emma Fryer for winning the Sally Casey Shooting Stars Graduate Research Scholarship from the California Native Plant Society, Santa Clara Valley Chapter
• Paper Accepted: Yua, A. C., M. Reinhart, R. Hunter, K. Lu, K. Maikawa, N. Rajakaruna, J. Acosta, Stubler, C. Appel, E. Appel. 2021. Seasonal impact of phosphate-based fire retardants on soil chemistry following prophylactic treatment of vegetation. Environmental Science and Technology (in press)
• Nishi is a member-at-large at the California Botanical Society

November 2020

• Grad student Rosie Murphy-Deak is highlighted in the Grasslands newsletter. Congratulations, Rosie!

October 2020

• South African lichen research highlighted in the North-West University Newsletter (pages 7, 21-22; Article PDF)

September 2020

• Congratulations to Eli Balderas for getting a grant from the IUCN Species Survival Commission for his upcoming MS research proposal titled “An Ecological Study of an Endangered Lichen from Central California: Sulcaria isidiifera, the Splitting Yarn Lichen.”

August 2020

• Faculty-in-Residence position highlighted: Interview
• Nishi is on the editorial board of Plant Ecology and Diversity
• Thank you, Cal Poly, for the recognition. Just living the life I love!

July 2020

• Nishi receives Cal Poly’s Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award for 2019-2020
• New Lichen genus press release via COSAM
• North-West University News on Lichen discovery
• Hot off the Press: Burrowsia, a new genus of lichenized fungi (Caliciaceae), plus the new species B. cataractarum and Scoliciosporum fabisporum, from Mpumalanga, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 121: 471-481 (PDF)
• Nishi joins the Editorial Board of Plant Ecology and Diversity (subject area: evolution and systematics)
• Nishi appointed as Honorary Research Professor at North-West University, South Africa
• Current Frost Summer Research Student, TJ Samojedny, visits Buck Creek, a serpentinite outcrop in North Carolina. TJ met with my colleague and fellow serpentinophile, Prof. Joe Pollard, Furman University, SC. TJ also got to meet the serpentine endemic Packera serpenticola, a plant I have yet to see in the field.

June 2020

• Congratulations to Michael Mulroy for winning a Paul Silva Student Research Grant from the California Botanical Society! Way to go Michael – with this and additional grants from California Lichen Society, Northern California Botanists, and American Bryological and Lichenological Society this year, your lichen studies are off to a great start!
• Nishi is promoted to Research Professor at North-West University, Potechefstroom, South Africa. Appointment from June 2020-June 2023
• Congratulations to Zach Raposo for winning the Student of the Year Award for The Environmental Earth & Soil Sciences major within the Natural Resources Managements and Environmental Sciences Department at Cal Poly. You rock!
• Hot off the Press: Congratulations, Anthony and Peter, for getting your chapter published as you wrap up your time at Cal Poly! What a way to graduate!
• An upcoming story written by two journalism majors of an unrooted botanist!
• Community Building on Cal Poly Magazine
• Paper accepted: Fryday, A. M., Medeiros, I., Pope, N., Siebert, S. and N. Rajakaruna. Burrowsia, a new genus of lichenized fungi (Caliciaceae), plus two new species B. cataractarum and Scoliciosporum fabisporum, from Mpumalanga, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany (in press)
• Tea night video on Cal Poly Magazine!

May 2020

• Congratulations to undergraduate research student, Nicole Argueta, for winning a 2020 Ned Rogoway Memorial Scholarship from the Channel Counties Chapter of the Association of Environmental Professionals
• Congratulations to undergraduate research student, Dylan Stephens, for winning the Mothers for Peace Scholarship in recognition of his educational and career goals that will have a positive impact on issues of peace, social justice, or the environment
• Undergraduate research student, Zach Raposo, is selected as the Environmental Earth and Soil Science Professional of the Year by Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences Department at Cal Poly. Congratulations, Zach!
• Keeping busy in the age of COVID-19: Building Community
• Great News: Both Rosie Deak and Michael Mulroy receive research grants from Northern California Botanists for their graduate research on meadow plant diversity-fire relations and lichen-substrate-climate relations, respectively. Congratulations to you both!
• Nishi joins the Editorial Board of AoB Plants. Published by Oxford University Press since 2010, AoBP is dedicated to rapid publication of high quality research on all aspects of plant biology and ecology. All papers are available online to anyone, anywhere, free of charge.
• Incoming grad student, Emma Fryer, has a new e-shop highlighting her amazing natural history illustrations. Check it out!
• Nishi joins the council of California Botanical Society starting this month

April 2020

• Adjusting to a new normal: faculty-student interactions in the age of Covid-19
• Congratulations to Michael Mulroy for winning the 2020 Culberson and Hale Award for field research from the American Bryological and Lichenological Society. Great work, Michael.
• April disappointments: Nishi’s research trips to the Charles Darwin Foundation Research Station on the Galapagos Islands and to Northwest University, Potechefstroom, South Africa were sadly canceled due to COVID-19 related travel bans.
• Congratulations to current and past lab members – Michael Mulroy, Anthony Ferrero, Peter Walsh, Zach Raposo, Charlotte Miranda, Jordon Gosse, Dylan Stephens, Reid Dawley, Alex Pena, Mary Devlin, Teiana Cataldo, and Chris Howington – for getting their oral and poster presentation abstracts accepted for presentation at the 10th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology to be held at the Ural Federal University, Eketerinburg, Russia.  7 undergraduates (Zach, Alex, Dylan, Reid, Peter, Anthony, Mary) and 1 grad student (Micheal) were making travel arrangements to attend the conference when the conference was postponed until June 2021 due to the pandemic. We hope to make it to Russia in 2021. Accepted abstracts are found here.
• More disappointments: my trip to South Africa in September to give a keynote address at the MEDECOS conference was also canceled due to the pandemic! Presentation Info – Life on the Rocks: What plants on harsh substrate ‘islands’ can teach us about diversity, ecology, evolution, and conservation and restoration practices. Keynote Presentation at the session on Plant life on atypical substrates in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems, MEDECOS 2020 (International Society of Mediterranean Ecology), Langebaan, Western Cape, South Africa. September 7-12
• My Field Botany Course in Maine (Aug 2-15) also canceled due to the pandemic….never had so many disappointing travel/work disruptions in one month ever before!
• Sad to miss Jesse Miller (Stanford University; invited by Rosie) and Elsa Cleland (UC San Diego; invited by Michael) we were supposed to host for the Biological Sciences Department Seminar Series this spring. Both their trips were canceled due to the pandemic. Hope to bring you back next year!

March 2020

• Emma Fryer receives an Honorable Mention in the 2020 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) competition. Great achievement, Emma! Congratulations!
• Rosie Murphy-Deak wins a California Native Grassland Association’s Grassland Research Awards for Student Scholarship (G.R.A.S.S.). Congratulations, Rosie! See announcement here.
• Emma Fryer is awarded a Graduate Assistantship for her first year of her MS starting Fall 2020 – Congratulations, Emma!
• Building Community – Faculty-in-Residence position highlighted in Cal Poly News

February 2020

• Exciting NEWS! Emma Fryer joins the lab for her MS research starting Fall 2020. We are excited to welcome Emma to our lab. Her bio follows:

Emma has spent the past two years working as a field biologist and specialist environmental planner with Central Valley and Sierra Nevada rare and endangered plant and animal species while based in Fresno, and volunteering at the Fresno State Herbarium to get it up and running again, with a particular focus on the lichen collection. She earned her B.S. in Botany from Humboldt State University, where she worked in the Tomescu Paleobotany lab for three years, describing and taxonomically placing Cretaceous fossil wood specimens with pinaceous and araucariaceous affinities. Emma has research and/or work experience with rare plant surveys and collecting, lichen and bryophyte identification, paleobotany and paleontological taxonomy, wood anatomy and identification, and enjoys amateur mycology. She is interested in expanding her knowledge of how plants interact with their environment and communities, in particular as it relates to rare California natives, their community structure, and management of rare plant populations. At Cal Poly, she plans on working with vertic clay-endemic plant communities in the San Joaquin Desert, studying their morphological and physiological adaptation to sodic, vertic clay soils, quantifying the primary edaphic factors that define each species’ niche, assessing whether competition from Bromus madritensis is causing niche compression, and developing a model of this flora’s community assembly. Emma enjoys backpacking, reading, and botanical illustration in her free time, and is looking forward to continuing her exploration of mycology, bryology, and lichenology, and getting to know the flora of the San Luis Obispo area when off-campus.

• Alex Pena presents his undergraduate research at the 2020 CSU Student Research Competition (Cal Poly).
• No hope for a super bloom at Carizzo Plain in 2020?
• Dr. Hugh Safford visits Cal Poly to present the weekly seminar at the Biological Sciences Department! It was a lot of fun hosting Hugh today.

• Exciting NEWS! Eli Balderas joins the lab for his MS research starting Fall 2020. We are excited to welcome Eli to our lab. A brief bio of Eli follows. Eli is currently an herbarium curatorial assistant in the Clifton Smith Herbarium. He earned his B.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he volunteered and interned at the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration. Eli has experience collecting California native plants, curating plant collections as well as performing research into taxonomic questions. He is interested in developing a greater understanding of lichens while also cultivating his knowledge of the general flora of California. At Cal Poly Eli plans on working on Sulcaria isidiifera, the splitting yarn lichen, a rare endemic that is known to occur in Los Osos Oaks Reserve, Montana De Oro and Morro Bay State Park. The goal of his project is to understand the extent of the population distribution and the ecology of this rare lichen in support of CESA and FESA listing status petitions.

• Congratulations to Zach Raposo for being selected as this year’s recipient of the SASES National Student Recognition Award for Cal Poly. Way to go, Zach!
• Congratulations to Alex Pena for making the internal selection competition of the CSU Student Research Competition. He has been selected to present his research on Layia to the Academic Senate Grants Review Committee. Good luck, Alex!
• We are excited to welcome Ryan O’Dell [Natural Resource Specialist (Botany/Soils/Paleontology), Central Coast Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, California] to the Geoecology Lab. As of February 2020, Ryan will be a Research Associate with us. Look forward to working with Ryan!

January 2020

• Congratulations to grad student, Michael Mulroy, for winning the California Lichen Society grant for his ongoing research on serpentine-sandstone lichens along a coast-inland gradient
• Nishi receives a Terrance Harris Excellence in Mentorship Award, Cal Poly State University (2020)

• Summer Field Botany in Acadia National Park. See press release on upcoming course!

December 2019

• Congratulations to Nicole Argueta on her selection for participation in the Cornell University 2020 Diversity Preview Weekend
• Lab research highlighted in the College of Science and Mathematics news on Faculty Publications and Awards Summer 2018

November 2019

• Student essay based on interview is highlighted in Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

October 2019

• South African Appointment
• Celebrating five years with Rhodora: Rhodora Editor-in-Chief

September 2019

• Congratulations to Dylan Stephens for winning the Frost Summer Research Photo Contest for 2019. His winning photo made the cover of the Frost Fund Annual Report 2018-2019

August 2019

• Undergraduates Alex Pena, Kevin Tran, and Dylan Stephens present their summer research at the Biological Sciences Department, Frost Summer Research Symposium, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. (August 23)
• Paper Hot off the Press (PDF)
• Paper accepted: Gunarathne, V., A. U. Rajapaksha, M. Vithanage, N. Adassooriya, A. Cooray, S. Liyanage, B. Athapattu, N. Rajakaruna, A. D. Igalavithana, D. Hou, D. S. Alessi, and Y. S. Ok. 2019. Heavy Metal Dissolution Mechanisms from Electrical Industrial Sludge. Science of the Total Environment (in press)

July 2019

• Nishi teaches a 2-week field botany class on New England plants at College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

• Nishi gets to entertain Cal Poly Soil Science Professor Dr. Chip Appel and family on Mount Desert Island, Maine

June 2019 

• Nishi visits Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia to present a seminar on plant evolution on serpentine soils and help Russian colleagues in their organization of the 10th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology to be held in Russia in June 2020. Photos are of visits to serpentinite outcrops in the central and southern Urals of Russia.

• Paper hot off the press:  Paukov, A., A. Teptina, M. Morozova, E. Kruglova, S. Favero-Longo, C. Bishop and N. Rajakaruna. The effects of edaphic and climatic factors on secondary lichen chemistry—a case study using saxicolous lichens. Diversity (PDF)
• South African research on Ni hyperaccumulator plants is highlighted in Veld&Flora, the quarterly journal of the Botanical Society of South Africa (PDF here)
• Paper hot off the press: Naikoo, M. I., M. I. Dar, F. A. Khan, F. Raghib, and N. Rajakaruna. Trophic transfer and bioaccumulation of lead along soil – plant – aphid – ladybird food chain. Environmental Science and Pollution Research (PDF)
• Paper accepted: Paukov, A., A. Teptina, M. Morozova, E. Kruglova, S. Favero-Longo, C. Bishop and N. Rajakaruna. The effects of edaphic and climatic factors on secondary lichen chemistry—a case study using saxicolous lichens. Diversity (in press)
• Paper hot off the press: Gunarathne, V., N. Rajakaruna, U. Gunarathne, J. K. Biswas, Z. A. Raposo, and M. Vithanage. Influence of soil water content and soil amendments on trace metal release and seedling growth in serpentine soil. Journal of Soils and Sediments (Online Version; PDF)

May 2019

• Paper accepted: Naikoo, M. I., M. I. Dar, F. A. Khan, F. Raghib, and N. Rajakaruna. Trophic transfer and bioaccumulation of lead along soil – plant – aphid – ladybird food chain. Environmental Science and Pollution Research (in press)
• Paper accepted: Gunarathne, V., N. Rajakaruna, U. Gunarathne, J. K. Biswas, Z. A. Raposo, and M. Vithanage. Influence of soil water content and soil amendments on trace metal release and seedling growth in serpentine soil. Journal of Soils and Sediments (in press)
• Nishi’ talk on rock outcrop plants for the CNPS Santa Clara Chapter is found here
• Mary Devlin, Dylan Stephens, Alex Pena, Kevin Tran, Nicole Argueta, Anthony Ferrero, Peter Walsh, and Zach Raposo present their undergraduate research at the College of Science and Mathematics 2019 Research Conference (May 16-17)

April 2019

• Paper Hot off the Press (PDF)
• Upcoming talk (May 17) at the California Native Plant Society (Santa Clara Chapter) is highlighted here
• Upcoming talk (May 14) for the Central Coast Biological Society is highlighted here
• Hike to Elfin Forest highlighted. See page 7
• Faculty-in-Residence program at Cal Poly highlighted in New Times (April 18 2019; PDF)
• Congratulations to Nate Pope, former research student from College of the Atlantic, for successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis at the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas, Austin. Nate published two papers as an undergrad and have continued to help my undergraduate research students over the years. So proud of you, Dr. Pope!
• Faculty in Residence Program highlighted in Mustang News
• Students present their research at the California Botanical Society’s 27th Graduate Student Symposium on April 6 2019. Photos are of undergraduate research students Alex Pena, Mary Devlin, Zach Raposo, Chris Howington, Peter Walsh, and Anthony Ferrero and graduate student, Paul Excoffier

• Kristen Nelson (Botanist, Terra Verde Environmental Consulting) and Nishi Rajakaruna lead a field trip on Irish Hills to explore serpentine-associated plants of San Luis Obispo. The trip was organized as part of the 27th Graduate Student Symposium of the California Botanical Society

March 2019

• Incoming Grad Student: Michael Mulroy will be joining the Geoecology Lab for his graduate studies this coming fall. A warm welcome to him. Michael hails from Carpinteria, California. He graduated in 2010 from Pomona College with a degree in Environmental Analysis. Since then, he has spent 6 years in the San Francisco Bay Area working as a wildlife biologist, and recently completed 2 years of service as an Environmental Conservation volunteer with the Peace Corps in Panama. Currently, Michael is working as a field technician and biologist for Channel Islands Restoration. Michael is broadly interested in species diversity and ecology, as well as how plant communities change across spatial and temporal scales, and how these changes relate to patterns of historic and present-day land use and management. At Cal Poly, Michael looks forward to investigating lichen communities of serpentinite substrates. In his free time, Michael enjoys reading, riding his bicycle, birding in remote areas, searching out edible mushrooms, and most recently, identifying lichens. Congratulations, Michael!

• Incoming Grad Student: Roisin ‘Rosie’ Murphy-Deak will also be joining the Geoecology Lab for her graduate studies this coming fall. A warm welcome to her! After graduating from UC Davis with a degree in Environmental Science and Management Rosie has pursued botanical field work that brings her far and wide. For the last seven years she has spent her time in the employment of various agencies including UC Davis, CNPS, and the US Forest Service. She is broadly interested in disturbance and the maintenance of biodiversity on the landscape and using insights gained from the field to inform land management practices. She is planning a collaboration with the  US Forest Service to investigate how controlled burns can be used to maintain meadow diversity and whether they are effective means of preventing Pine invasion. Congratulations Rosie!

• Alex Pena, Dylan Stephens, and Kevin Tran win Frost Summer Research Fellowships to conduct undergraduate research in the Geoecology Lab Summer 2019. Congratulations!
• Kristen Nelson and Nishi lead a hike to explore serpentine plants of Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo. The highlight of the hike was the newly discovered and described serpentine endemic plant, Chorizanthe aphanantha. 
• Faculty-in-Residence Program highlighted in Mustang News
• Geoecology Lab highlighted in the Intersection Magazine of the College of Science and Mathematics, Cal Poly (See PDF 1, PDF2)
• Congratulations to Nicole Argueta for winning a Montine M. Freeman Scholarship in Native Plant Studies from the Garden Club of America. Funding will help her with a project on creating an Ethnobotany Garden at the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden

February 2019

• Bob Boyd visits Cal Poly to give a departmental seminar on nickel hyperaccumulation and another seminar to the California Native Plant Society (SLO Chapter) on his travels on serpentines of the world. Bob also visited with students of the Geoecology Lab at Cal Poly during his visit.

January 2019

• Amber Williams presents her summer 2018 research at the STAR (Stem Teacher and Researcher) Conference in San Diego, CA

November 2018

• Garden Club of America highlights 2018 Scholars. See pages 48 (Anthony Ferrero) and 54 (Mary Devlin).

October 2018

• Fire project highlighted in the Mustang News

August 2018

• Anthony Ferrero, Chris Howington, and Zach Raposo present their summer research at the Frost Undergraduate Research Symposium at the Dept. of Bio Sciences, Cal Poly
• Former graduate student from San Jose State University, Teri Barry, is now the collections manager at the Center for Plant Diversity at UC Davis. Congratulations Teri!
• Frost and Garden Club of America Scholar, Anthony Ferrero, and Professor Bob Boyd (Auburn University, AL) taking a break from field work in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. They are collecting seed of Streptanthus polygaloides, one of two known nickel hyperaccumulating plants in the US

• Anthony Ferrero and Bob Boyd on the hunt for Streptanthus polygaloides

July 2018

• Anthony Ferrero and Mary Devlin are highlighted in the Garden Club of America scholarship announcements for 2018
• STAR Scholar joins the Geoecology Lab for the summer:

June 2018

• Ecological Society of Japan announces new editors
• University housing faculty-in-residence program highlighted in the Cal Poly Reports
• Nishi takes students from Hotchkiss School, CT on a natural history tour of Udawattekalle, Kandy and introduces tropical fruit

May 2018

• Hot off the press: Echevarria, G., A. J. M. Baker, R. S. Boyd, A. van der Ent, T. Mizuno, N. Rajakaruna, S. Sakaguchi, and A. Bani. 2018. A global forum on ultramafic ecosystems: from ultramafic ecology to rehabilitation of degraded environments. Ecological Research (PDF)
• Lab members present their research at the Spring 2018 College of Science and Mathematics Student Research Conference at Cal Poly

• Former Student Suzie Woolhouse’s photo makes it to the cover page of Molecular Ecology (May 2018). Her paper can be found here
• Nishi is invited to join the Editorial Board of Ecological Research, the journal of the Ecological Society of Japan
• Nishi gives a seminar at Sedgewick Preserve and co-leads a hike on serpentine (May 12)

April 2018

• Paper Hot off the Press (PDF)
• Congratulations to former undergraduate research students from College of the Atlantic, Luka Negoita (Graduate Student, Syracuse University) and Naveed Davoodian (Graduate Student, New York Botanic Garden/CUNY) for successfully defending their Ph.D. theses
• Congratulations to Zach Raposo, Anthony Ferrero, Sam Farrow, and Chris Howington for being awarded a Frost Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for 2018
• Congratulations to Zach Raposo, Peter Walsh, Anthony Ferrero, and Sean Whitlock for being awarded a Biological Sciences Frost Undergraduate Research Award for Spring Quarter 2018!

March 2018

• Paper Hot off the Press: Teptina, A., A. Paukov, and N. Rajakaruna. 2018. Ultramafic vegetation and soils in the circumboreal region of the Northern Hemisphere. Ecological Research (PDF)
• Paper Accepted: Echevarria, G., A. J. M. Baker, R. S. Boyd, A. van der Ent, T. Mizuno, N. Rajakaruna, S. Sakaguchi, and A. Bani. 2018. A global forum on ultramafic ecosystems: from ultramafic ecology to rehabilitation of degraded environments. Ecological Research (in press)
• Congratulations to Mary Devlin for winning a US Fish and Wildlife Service grant for rare plant research to conduct her study titled “The biology and ecology of Cirsium fontinale var. obispoense: Field, herbarium and greenhouse studies for better conservation and restoration practices.”
• Congratulations to Paul Excoffier for winning a US Fish and Wildlife Service grant for rare plant research to conduct his study “Assessing the seed longevity of San Joaquin Woollythreads.”
• Congratulations to Anthony Ferrero for winning a Garden Club of America, Field Botany Scholarship for his research on the ecology of Streptanthus polygaloides
• Congratulations to Mary Devlin for winning a Garden Club of America, Summer Environmental Studies Scholarship for her upcoming research on native-nonnative plant interactions on serpentine soil under nutrient enrichment
• Upcoming Talk at Sedgewick Preserve, UC Santa Barbara

February 2018

• Paper accepted:  Kay, K.M., Woodhouse, S.^, Smith, B.A., Pope, N.**, and Rajakaruna, N. Sympatric serpentine endemic Monardella (Lamiaceae) species maintain habitat differences despite hybridization. Molecular Ecology (in press)
• Paper Hot off the press: Favero Longo, S. E., E. Matteucci, P. Giordani, A. Paukov, and N. Rajakaruna. 2018. Diversity and functional traits of lichens in ultramafic areas: a literature-based worldwide analysis integrated by field data at the regional scale. Ecological Research (PDF)
• Paper Hot off the press:  Ghasemi, R., H. Share, R. Sharifi, R. S. Boyd, N. Rajakaruna. 2018. Inducing Ni sensitivity in the Ni hyperaccumulator plant Alyssum inflatum Nyárády (Brassicaceae) by transforming with CAX1, a vacuolar membrane calcium transporter. Ecological Research (PDF)
• Cal Poly Botany Faculty and Students attend CNPS 2018 meeting in Los Angeles, CA
• Paper Accepted: Teptina, A., A. Paukov, and N. Rajakaruna. 2018. Ultramafic vegetation and soils in the circumboreal region of the Northern Hemisphere. Ecological Research (in press)
• Paper HOT off the press: Medeiros, I. D., Mathieson, A. C., and N. Rajakaruna. 2017. Heavy Metals in Seaweeds from a Polluted Estuary in Coastal Maine. Rhodora (PDF)

January 2018

• Congratulations to Sam Farrow for being awarded a Biological Sciences Frost Undergraduate Research Award for Winter Quarter 2018. Sam will conduct research on edaphic specialization in Layia and Lasthenia species
• Paper Accepted: Favero Longo, S. E., E. Matteucci, P. Giordani, A. Paukov, and N. Rajakaruna. 2018. Diversity and functional traits of lichens in ultramafic areas: a literature-based worldwide analysis integrated by field data at the regional scale. Ecological Research (in press)
• Paper Accepted: Ghasemi, R., H. Share, R. Sharifi, R. S. Boyd, N. Rajakaruna. 2018. Inducing Ni sensitivity in the Ni hyperaccumulator plant Alyssum inflatum Nyárády (Brassicaceae) by transforming with CAX1, a vacuolar membrane calcium transporter. Ecological Research (in press)

December 2017

• Paper Hot off the Press (PDF)
• Nishi presents a seminar on geobotany at the California Native Plant Society (San Luis Obispo Chapter) monthly meeting
• Nishi co-leads a hike at Reservoir Canyon for California Native Plant Society (San Luis Obispo Chapter)

November 2017

• Paper Hot off the Press
• Paper Accepted: Venter, A., S. J. Siebert, N. Rajakaruna, S. Barnard, A. Levanets, A. Ismail, M. Allam, B. Peterson, T. Sanko. 2017. Biological crusts of serpentine and non-serpentine soils from the Barberton Greenstone Belt of South Africa. Ecological Research (in press)
• Paper Accepted: Siebert, S. J., Schutte, N. C., Bester, S. P., Komape, D. M., and N. Rajakaruna. 2017. Senecio conrathii N.E.Br. (Asteraceae), a new hyperaccumulator of nickel from serpentinite outcrops of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Ecological Research (in press)

October 2017

• Lab visits two chromite/mercury mines in Irish Hills Natural Reserve in preparation for a geobotanical study of the abandoned mines

• Lab visits Poly Canyon with former Geology Professor Dr. David Chipping
• Paper HOT off the press (PDF): Lessons on Evolution from the Study of Edaphic Specialization
• Lab members setting up permanent vegetation monitoring plots on burnt and unburnt, south and north facing slopes on serpentine and metavolcanic soils on Poly Canyon

• Lab members visit Poly Canyon to explore post-fire disturbance. We will soon set up plots to monitor post-fire regeneration of plants found on serpentine and metavolcanic soils on burnt and unburnt areas

September 2017

• Lab takes first field trip to Rinconada mine, an abandoned mercury mine within Los Padres National Forest

• Paper accepted: Rajakaruna, N. Lessons on evolution from the study of edaphic specialization. The Botanical Review (in press)

August 2017

• 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 119: 110-131.

For past lab news see here