Our Team

Andrea T. Kramer

Dr. Kramer is Chicago Botanic Garden’s Director of Restoration Ecology where she oversees the Garden's Department of Restoration Ecology and natural areas. She works collaboratively with land managers to harness the Garden's research capacity to address priority management needs and supports the conservation, management, and restoration of native plant diversity in the Chicago region that serves as a model for work in the United States and globally.

Barbara Crane

Dr. Crane currently works as the Regional Geneticist in the Southern Region Forest Management Group, US Forest Service where she provides management oversight for all the regional tree seed orchards and the seed bank. She works with a variety of conifer and hardwood species in operational reforestation, as well as tree conservation and restoration efforts on the Southern National Forests. She works with silviculturists and recommends appropriate tree species and seed sources to deploy, in both artificial and natural regeneration projects.

Jeff Downing

Jeff Downing is Executive Director of Mt. Cuba Center, a botanical garden in Hockessin, Delaware that inspires an appreciation for the beauty and value of native plants, and a commitment to conserve the habitats that sustain them. Before arriving at Mt. Cuba Center in 2012, Jeff worked at The New York Botanical Garden for thirteen years, including five years as Vice President for Education.

Kayri Havens, Ph.D.

Dr. Havens is the Medard and Elizabeth Welch Director of Plant Science and Conservation at Chicago Botanic Garden, where she researches reproductive ecology and conservation of plant species and on the responses of native species to changed climates, and is particularly interested in developing measures of success and best practices for ex situ plant conservation programs, from collecting genetically diverse seed accessions to minimizing genetic change during storage and increasing likelihood of success of restorations.

Sarah K. Jacobi, Ph.D.

Dr. Jacobi earned her Ph.D. in geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and completed the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship in 2009.

Eric V. Lonsdorf, Ph.D.

Dr. Lonsdorf is the Program Director of the Natural Capital Project at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. He and the rest of the Minnesota team work with with the lead institution of Natural Capital Project, Stanford University, and the other NatCap partners, the Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Stockholm Resilience Center to integrate the value of nature into society. Additionally, he develops ecological models for decision-makers faced with making choices in conservation biology and natural resource management under considerable uncertainty with limited resources. He earned his Ph.D. in ecology, evolution and behavior from the University of Minnesota.

Ari Novy, Ph.D.

Dr. Novy is the Executive Director of the San Diego Botanic Garden and a plant biologist with degrees from New York University and Rutgers University. He holds research appointments at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC and University of California-San Diego. He currently serves on the boards of the Cornell Alliance for Science, and Botanic Garden Conservation International-US. Dr. Novy has served on many advisory panels during his career including the White House Council of Environmental Quality, the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization and the Scientific Advisory Panel of Botanic Garden Conservation International.

Douglas W. Tallamy, Ph.D.

Dr. Tallamy, professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at University of Delaware, researches the behavioral ecology of insects, conservation of biodiversity, plant-insect interactions and the impact of alien plants on native ecosystems. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens (2007, Timber Press) was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers' Association.

J.L. Hamrick, Ph.D.

Dr. Hamrick studies the genetics and evolution of natural plant populations, with a particular focus on the genetic structure of plant populations and the factors that influence the development of genetic structure; natural selection, the mating system, pollen movement and seed dispersal. He earned his Ph.D. in population genetics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Amy Highland

Amy Highland obtained her degree in Public Horticulture from Purdue University and is currently the Director of Collections and Conservation Lead at Mt. Cuba Center. She manages both living and non-living collections, focusing on expanding the genetic diversity of the gardens and coordinating Mt. Cuba’s conservation efforts.

Thomas N. Kaye, Ph.D.

Dr. Kaye is the Executive Director and Senior Ecologist with the Institute for Applied Ecology in Corvallis, Oregon where he researches population dynamics of endangered plants and invasive plant species. Many of his projects use ecological theory to approach applied problems in plant ecology and he is active in endangered species reintroduction theory and practice, as well as community restoration. He earned his Ph.D. from Oregon State University.

Jennifer Ramp Neale, Ph.D.

Dr. Neale is Denver Botanic Gardens’ Director of Research & Conservation where she contributes to regional, national and international collaborative projects focused on biodiversity conservation. Her research focuses on using molecular methods to address questions of conservation concern related to rare plants in Colorado.

Peter E. Smouse

Dr. Smouse is a geneticist who has worked on quantitative analysis of humans and higher primates, propagule flow in forest trees, taxonomic diversity in forbs and agronomic grasses, clinal variation in insects, ecological niche partitioning in bacteria, and forensic genetics of marine and freshwater fish. His recent research has focused on mathematical modeling and statistical analysis of theoretical population biology problems. He earned his Ph.D. at North Carolina State University at Raleigh.

Abigail White

Abigail White earned her Masters from Northwestern and researches landscape genetics to identify ways to improve reproductive success in seed restoration mixes.

Jacob Zeldin

Jacob Zeldin is a researcher at the Chicago Botanic Garden where he studies the ecological processes and species interactions that occur in plant communities with a specific emphasis on functional and restoration ecology. He leads a tissue culture lab at the Garden, propagating plant species for restoration experiments as well as rare and exceptional species to aid in conservation efforts. He earned his Masters in Plant Biology and Conservation at Northwestern University.