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News From MO: 2000 Graduate Program The Missouri Botanical Garden offers a broad-based program of graduate studies in systematic botany in cooperation with Washington University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Students apply to and enroll at one of these universities and complete the degree requirements of that school, but have full access to the staff, facilities, laboratory, and research opportunities available at the Garden. The exceptional faculties and programs at these universities in population biology and genetics, ecology, plant physiology, and molecular biology, combined with the excellent herbarium, library, greenhouse facilities, and research staff at the Garden, make this a unique and stimulating graduate program. The Garden's strong commitment to tropical research provides students with outstanding opportunities for field-oriented studies. Peter H. Raven [webpage], Director of the Garden, is Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University, and many of the curators are adjunct faculty members at one or more of the participating universities. A student can work under the direction of any regular or adjunct faculty member at his/her university. Students may pursue masters or doctoral degrees at University of Missouri-St. Louis, Washington University, and Saint Louis University, and a masters degree at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The doctoral program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis continues to gain strength, with many new faculty members being hired in recent years, including Susanne Renner and Peter Stevens. UM-St. Louis also hired Elizabeth Kellogg as the E. Desmond Lee and Family Endowed Professor in Botanical Studies, which will strengthen the area of molecular systematics in the program. International Center for Tropical Ecology Fellowships and Raven Fellowships in Tropical Biology support several of the University of Missouri-St. Louis students. Baltzer, Bovard, Layton, and Smeltzer Fellowships are awarded each year as appropriate. Funds from the Mellon Foundation support Ph.D. students in taxonomy. Many of the Latin American students have support from LASPAU. There are currently 34 graduate students doing their thesis research with an adviser at the Garden: Alba Arbeláez (Ph.D., UMSL, undecided); Luzmila Arroyo (M.S., UMSL, Blake/Richardson, vegetation structure in Bolivia, fieldwork in Bolivia, support from Fulbright/LASPAU); James Beck (PhD, WU, undecided); Mark Beilstein (Ph.D., UMSL, Al-Shehbaz/Kellogg, Cruciferae); Monica Carlsen (M.S., UMSL, P. Stevens, undecided); Christina Casado (M.S., UMSL, Magill, monograph of Streptopogon, Pottiaceae, support from NSF PEET grant, Baltzer fellowship); Andre Chanderbali (Ph.D., UMSL, Renner/van der Werff, systematics of Endlicheria, Lauraceae, fieldwork in Guyana, support from Smithsonian Institution and American Society of Plant Taxonomists); Kuo-fung Chung (Ph.D., WU, undecided); Indiana Coronado (M.S., UMSL, Richardson, undecided); Hilary Davis (Ph.D., UMSL, Young, systematics of Comocladia, Anacardiaceae); Sarah Fuentes (M.S., UMSL, Al-Shehbaz, undecided); John Gaskin (Ph.D., WU, Raven/Schaal, systematics of Tamarix, Tamaricaceae, fieldwork in U.S., Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, support from Mellon Foundation, NSF, EPA, USDA); Bee Gunn (M.S., UMSL, phylogeny of Coceae, Arecaceae); Linda Hirst (M.S., UMSL, Miller, ethnobotany); Ken Hiser (M.S., UMSL, Kellogg, systematics of Ixophorus, Poaceae); Shing-Fan Huang (Ph.D., UMSL, Raven/Ricklefs, systematics and biogeography of Acer, Aceraceae); Lúcia Lohmann (Ph.D., UMSL, Kellogg/Stevens, phylogeny of Bignonieae, Bignoniaceae, fieldwork in Suriname, Brazil, support from government of Brazil, NSF, Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri, ICTE, BSA); Zacharia Magombo (Ph.D.,UMSL, Magill, systematics and biogeographic studies of Diphysciaceae, Buxbaumiidae, Meteoriaceae, fieldwork in Suriname, Vietnam, support from NSF PEET grant, ICTE); Allison Miller (Ph.D., WU, Raven/Schaal, phylogeography of Anacardium, Anacardiaceae); Giancarlo Oliveira (Ph.D., WU, Raven/Schaal, South American Oryza, Poaceae); Mark Olson (Ph.D., WU, Raven, phylogeny and development of Moringa, Moringaceae, fieldwork in Oman, Kenya, India, South Africa, and Namibia, support from Mellon Foundation, NSF Dissertation Research Grant, National Geographic Society); Michelle Price (Ph.D., UMSL, Magill, bryophytes, fieldwork in Suriname, support from NSF PEET grant); Thomas Prinzie (Ph.D., WU, Raven/Schaal, phylogeny of Gonolobeae, Asclepiadaceae, fieldwork in Mexico, support from NSF Graduate Fellowship, NSF Dissertation Research Grant, Webster Groves Nature Study Society); Lishu Qu (Ph.D., UMSL, Zhu, undecided); Jason Rauscher (Ph.D., WU, Berry/Schaal, evolution in Espeletia complex, Asteraceae, fieldwork in Venezuela and Colombia, support from NSF Dissertation Research Grant and Mellon Foundation); Sylvain Razafimandimbison (Ph.D.,UMSL, Richardson, phylogeny of Naucleeae, Rubiaceae, fieldwork in Madagascar, Gabon, and Tanzania, support from Claiborne-Ortenberg Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation); Rodrigo Ríos (M.S., UMSL, undecided); Lupita Sánchez (M.S., UMSL, undecided); Patrick Sweeney (Ph.D., WU, undecided); Ben Torke (Ph.D., WU, systematics of Swartzia); Homero Vargas (M.S., UMSL, Jorgensen/Neill, Viburnum in Ecuador); Alberto Vicentini (Ph.D., UMSL, P. Stevens, phylogeography of Pagamea, Rubiaceae) ; Andoni Westerhaus (Ph.D., UMSL, Richardson, Menispermaceae); and Hyosig Won (Ph.D., UMSL, Renner, undecided). Two students received their doctoral degrees in 1999 - 2000: Jason Bradford (WU, Berry, "Phylogenetic systematics of Cunoniaceae (Oxalidales) with an emphasis on species-groups and inflorescence structure in Weinmannia and related genera", currently working at Missouri Botanical Garden); and Simon Malcomber (WU, Raven, "Systematics and the evolution of breeding systems in Gaertnera (Rubiaceae)", currently a postdoc at the University of Missouri-St. Louis) and three received their masters degrees: Deby Arifiani (UMSL, van der Werff, "Taxonomic revision of Endiandra (Lauraceae) in Borneo", currently working in Bogor herbarium, Indonesia); Antony Jardim (UMSL, Richardson, "A revision of Hebepetalum and Roucheria, Hugoniaceae", currently doing environmental impact studies in Bolivia); and Rosa Ortiz-Gentry, (UMSL, van der Werff, "Systematic revision of Curarea (Menispermaceae)", currently working at the Missouri Botanical Garden). The students maintain a Graduate Studies web page containing e-mail addresses of current and recent students. For further information about graduate study at the Garden, write to P. Mick Richardson, Manager of Graduate Studies (e-mail: mick.richardson@mobot.org). Requests for application materials for the associated universities should be directed to the individual schools as follows: The Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Campus Box 8072, Washington University, 660 South Euclid, St. Louis, Missouri 63110 (telephone 1 800 852 9074, http://dbbs.wustl.edu); Biology Department, Saint Louis University, 3507 Laclede Avenue, Saint Louis, Missouri 63103, http://165.134.116.28; Biology Department, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63121, http://www.umsl.edu/division/artscience/biology/index.html/; or Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois 62026, http://www.siue.edu/biology. For information on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and, for students from non-English speaking countries, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), potential students should write to Education Testing Service, Rosedale Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08451, U.S.A. Top | Table of Contents