Current Events
March 6, 2026
Dr. Weston Testo
“Phylogenomic Methods Reveal Ancient Hybridization in North American Royal Ferns”
Weston Testo is Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Vermont and Director of the Pringle Herbarium. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Vermont in 2017 and subsequently held positions at the University of Florida, University of Gothenburg, and Field Museum of Natural History prior to joining the faculty of the University of Vermont in 2023. His lab’s research program focuses on the diversity and evolution of ferns and lycophytes, especially lineages centered in tropical America.
Please visit our Upcoming Meetings page for Dr. Testo’s abstract, program details and registration information.
Congratulations to the Fernald Award Recipients
for Rhodora Vol. 125
Dr. Robert Bertin
Brett Trowbridge
Brian Keevan
The Merritt Lyndon Fernald Award Committee is pleased to recognize Dr. Robert Bertin, Brett Trowbridge, and Brian Keevan for their paper “Patterns in the flora of the Wachusett Mountain area, Princeton and Westminster, Massachusetts, U.S.A.”
Congratulations to the 2025 Junior Faculty Award Winner
Dr. Chloe Pak Drummond
Dr. Chloe Pak Drummond, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, for project “Population history, genetic diversity, and future persistence of Large-leaved Sandwort, Moehringia macrophylla (Hook.) Fenzl (Caryophyllaceae), a rare New England plant.”
Congratulations to our 2025 Graduate Student Research Award Winners
Jason Leung
Caroline Witherspoon
Jason Leung of Columbia University for project “Sequencing 19th century herbarium specimens to understand the loss of genetic diversity in a regionally extinct beach plant, Amaranthus pumilus Raf., or seabeach amaranth”
Caroline Witherspoon of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry for project “Usnea subfloridana as a model for understanding the drivers of the distribution and ecology of imperiled Usnea lichens in the northeastern United States”
Congratulations to the 2025 Les Mehrhoff Botanical Research Award Winners
Ujjal Banik
Eric Hagen
Michael Lew-Smith
Alex Karasoulos
Emmi Kurosawa
Catherine Wessel
& Will Durkin
Ujjal Banik for project “Morphologgy and eco-physiological study of green macroalgae Ulva“
Eric Hagen and Michael Lew-Smith for project “Finding Floerkea: Using herbarium specimens and biogeographic modeling to search for new populations of the recently rediscovered Floerkea proserpinacoides in Vermont”
Alex Karasoulos for project “Targeted surveys for rare vascular plants in the brackish marshes of Massachusetts”
Emmi Kurosawa for project “A survey of 15 introduced populations of critically endangered Aldrovanda vesiculosa in New England, and characterization of ecological requirements for successful cultivation”
Catherine Wessel and Will Durkin for project “Targeted surveys for Agalinis neoscotica: Historic and rare populations in coastal Maine”