# Lab Members ## Faculty [### Jeannine Cavender-Bares ](/people/jeannine-cavender-bares)Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Director of the Harvard University Herbaria My research focuses on the physiological and evolutionary dimensions of plant ecology that influence community assembly and ecosystem function. I am particularly interested in the genetic and evolutionary basis of variation in plant phenotypes and... ![Jeannine Cavender-Bares](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/Cavender-Bares_6_13_crop.jpg?itok=T8M1TdyL) ## Staff [### J. Antonio Guzmán Q. ](/people/j-antonio-guzman-q)Research Scientist I am an integrative plant ecologist and remote sensing scientist whose interest focuses on understanding of ecological mechanisms that enable the observation and monitoring of forest biodiversity and its changes across spatial and temporal scales ![Antonio_Guzman](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-05/guzman.jpg?itok=ogJLW_KF) [### Elizabeth Martinez-Victoria ](/people/elizabeth-martinez-victoria)Lab Technician Elizabeth is a lab technician supporting projects that use High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and spectroscopy to analyze herbarium plant specimens. ![Ellie](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-06/Ellie_JCB%20website.jpg?itok=7zZ3YhAH) [### Juan Ramírez-Lerma ](/people/juan-ramirez-lerma-0)Laboratory Manager As Lab Manager and Site Co-Manager of the Forest and Biodiversity experiment at Harvard Forest, I try to bridge my career experiences in the fields of science and conservation and project management to help the advancement of sustainable ecosystem... ![Juan Ramirez-Lerma](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/Juan_Ramirez.jpg?itok=Hoqk57dN) [### Billy Shogren ](/people/billy-shogren-0)Researcher Harvard Forest Billy Shogren is a recent graduate from Amherst college with a degree in Biology. With a deep passion for conservation and plant ecology, Billy has spent significant time working in agricultural fields, forests, prairies, and even seagrass beds in the... ![Billy](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-08/billy2_headshot_0.jpg?itok=HUGLzhw5) ## Postdocs [### Mariana Hernandez-Leal ](/people/mariana-hernandez-leal)Postdoctoral Fellow Mariana’s research focuses on the genetic diversity and evolutionary response of riparian and wetland plants to environmental change. She is interested in how environment and landscape features affect gene flow and population genetic structure in these... ![Mariana Hernandez Leal](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/Mariana.jpeg?itok=oXSMboMi) [### Dawson White ](/people/dawson-white)Postdoctoral Fellow Dawson White is a botanist and postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard University Herbaria. His work integrates systematics, herbarium-based leaf spectroscopy, and botanical surveys to better characterize floristic, genotypic, and phenotypic dimensions of... ![Dawson_White](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/Dawson_Riley_Fortier_20.jpeg?itok=YIanH88y) ## Students [### Laura Ostrowsky ](/people/laura-ostrowsky)PhD Candidate Laura is a PhD candidate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Prior to her doctoral work, she did a master’s degree in plant ecophysiology at the Yale School of the Environment and worked as a forester and high... ![Laura_Ostrowsky](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/Laura_O.JPG?itok=_L7sgDEJ) [### Maria Park ](/people/maria-park-0)PhD candidate Maria is interested in the connections between plants, biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, climate change, and restoration ecology. She also uses art as a medium to involve community members in conversations about ecology, humanity, and sustainability. ![Maria Park](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/Maria_photo.jpg?itok=wCHme4XV) [### Azzo Seguin ](/people/azzo-seguin)PhD Student Azzo is studying how the ecophysiological traits of tree species vary across elevational gradients in the mountains of New England, how these traits influence species' fitness in the different environments that occur at different elevations, and how trait... ![Azzo_HF](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-05/Azzo_website_photo.jpg?itok=hO9Vh-uM) [### Beatrice Youd ](/people/beatrice-youd)PhD Student I’m interested in using a combination of field research and remote sensing methods to answer questions about the impacts of biodiversity and global change on species interactions and the organization and function of ecosystems. I’m focusing my PhD... ![Beatrice_Youd](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/Beatrice_JBC_first%20year.JPG?itok=BEjLXvgH) ## Affiliates [### Steven Augustine ](/people/steven-augustine)Assistant Professor University of Central Arkansas Steven is a former Postdoctoral Fellow at the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) department and Harvard University Herbaria (HUH). His interests in understanding the evolution and community assembly of major plant radiations, including pines, oaks... ![Steven Augustine](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-04/steven%20agustine.jpg?itok=DVVp2gU7) [### Sally Donovan ](/people/sally-donovan)PhD Student UMN Sally is a Ph.D. student from the University of Minnesota Department of Ecology, Evolution, Behavior As cities invest in new tree-planting projects, how do we also manage existing urban trees? My work explores applications of satellite-based data to... ![Sally_Field](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-05/Sally_Donovan.jpeg?itok=ISJuFVEI) [### Brett Fredericksen ](/people/brett-fredericksen)Managing Director ASCEND Brett is the Managing Director of the ASCEND-BII; Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, USA; and Managing Editor of Harvard Papers in Botany. Brett’s work specifically focuses on the smallest scale... ![Brett_ASCEND](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-05/Brett_Frederiscksen.jpg?itok=QLJLlYFp) [### Lucy Rea ](/people/lucy-rea)Postdoctoral Researcher I am a scientist with an interest in climate adaptation and resilience in Midwest ecosystems. I did my undergraduate work in Plant Biology at Michigan State and minored in Science Environmental and Technology Public Policy and Environmental Sustainability... ![LucyRea](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-05/IMG_5329.JPG?itok=PFMEC-VL) [### Allison Scott ](/people/allison-scott)Researcher Allison is involved within the Cavendar-Bares’ team, working on developing methods and approaches to detect oak wilt infection at the leaf and canopy level, at landscape level and regional level, using spectral biology. With hand-held, drone-based... ![Allison_HF](/sites/g/files/omnuum8866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-05/Allison_Scott.jpg?itok=dV0wlTbZ)