PROGRAM IN PLANT BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Recent News

April 2026

• Dr. Hector Ortiz, Dr. Pat Herendeen and PBC alums, Grace Murrell & Max Jones and current PBC MS student, Luciana Piniely were all featured in Northwestern Magazine's Rooted in Research.
• PBC master’s student, Jackson Kehoe, helps create China-America Reel Ecology (CARE) Student Film Showcase presented by Block Cinema on April 30th. 

January 2026

• Dr. Paul CaraDonna attends the International Film Festival at Rotterdam for the world premiere of Homecoming which Paul helped produced and create. Learn more about the film here: Homecoming - IFFR EN
• Emma Fetterly's thesis was published in the American Journal of Botany. You can read Emma's publication here: "Selection maintains floral color polymorphism in scarletpaintbrush, Castilleja coccinea, reflecting combinedecological factors".

November 2025

• Please join us in welcoming Dr. Dana Dudle, who is on sabbatical from DePauw University in the Iler+CaraDonna Lab. Dana is a professor of Biology at DePauw University, a liberal arts college in Indiana and teaches Plant Biology and Conservation Biology (among other things). In addition to general plant biology and conservation, Dana’s research interests focus on the evolutionary ecology and genetics of gynodioecious species. Dana has studied pollinators, floral color change, and responses to stressful environments like limestone quarries. Dana has also worked on numerous projects aimed at fostering inclusive excellence in STEM, particularly in undergraduate education.

• Rainbow Roots and the PBC Grad Student Org is excited to kick off our food drive for the Chicagoland Food Sovereignty Coalition starting November 17th until the end of the year! Our goal is to reach 200 items and we will be keeping track on a posterboard located outside the lunch room.
  • Chicagoland Food Sovereignty Coalition is a coalition of autonomous mutual aid groups working to reimagine a resilient, sustainable, and equitable local food system based on food sovereignty. Covering 25+ neighborhoods in Chicago and several areas around Cook County, they support communities with access to healthy food and meals.
  • There is a collection box located at CBG in the mailroom on the North Side and outside the lunchroom on the South Side where you can drop off goods. If you have the means to participate, we invite you to donate items listed below:
    • Cereal & Oats
    • Snack Foods (granola bars, applesauce pouches, fruit snacks, etc.)
    • Flour & Sugar
    • Spices & Seasonings
    • Oil
    • Broth & Bullion 
    • Rice & Grains
    • Pasta
    • Sauces
    • Nuts & Legumes
    • Canned Fruit & Vegetables
    • Dried Fruit & Vegetables
  • We will also be looking for donations for a diaper drive affecting people in the community who are unable to leave their homes due to the presence of ICE.  Any funds donated will be used to purchase diapers, wipes, etc. that are desperately needed currently. Please donate to Tayah’s Venmo: Tayah-Carlisle and include in the notes “Diaper Drive” or a baby related emoji. 
  • We understand that this is a challenging time for many people in the community and encourage folks to only participate at whatever capacity feels feasible and/or comfortable. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you in advance for your support and participation! -Rainbow Roots & PBC Student Org 

• Congratulations to Hector's MS student, Mikayla Mika, after receiving second prize at the lightning talks at the 15^th Annual Plant Science Symposium at the University of Wisconsin Madison. 

• Be sure to check out the new grafting display at the library! It runs through Feb. 2, and it highlights the fascinating history of grafting with beautiful books from the library’s rare book collection. It was a collaborative effort between library and science staff (Evan Eifler, Nyree Zerega)

  https://www.chicagobotanic.org/calendar/event/grafting-then-and-now

October 2025

• Congratulations to Libby on her new manuscript -  Community engagement in urban habitat creation for the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis) indicates the potential of conservation in private yards. This is a paper from Libby's MS at DePaul where she started a community science project growing host plants for the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee. This project leads in well to Libby's PhD project where she is continuing to look into the potential of lawns for pollinator conservation. Libby was also featured in The Daily Northwestern here. 
• PBC Alum, Reed Berkendorf's paper on Metabarcoding pollen was published this week. This work was a collaboration between many people in the department, which combined field data, spatial distribution modelling and molecular ecology of Queen Bees. He also got the coveted cover photo on the issue. Great job, all.

September 2025

• PBC's Max Jones (MS student) was featured in Northwestern Now. Check out Max's research on the effects of forest fragmentation on tropical mammal communities and the conservation value of small patches of tropical forests.