Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK) and Adjunct Research Associate at Curtin University (Western Australia, Australia). His research bridges orchid ecology, conservation, and mycorrhizal fungi. His main interest is in understanding the interaction between orchids and their mycorrhizal fungi from Mediterranean climatic regions and how this can be affected by future climatic scenarios.

Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution’s North American Orchid Conservation Center. His research focuses on geographic, demographic, and ecological aspects of biodiversity conservation and he has been working with orchids for more than 25 years. He is particularly intrigued by rare and endangered species in global biodiversity hotspots and he has led studies in North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Micronesia.
His investigations explore various ecological factors, ranging from climate change to symbioses, that influence the diversity, distribution, and viability of orchids and their habitats to develop and implement effective conservation strategies.

Professor of biology at Illinois College, and a research associate at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  He earned his B.S. degree from the University of Florida (1987) and Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from Clemson University (1994).  In 1996, he established Illinois College’s Orchid Recovery Program that enlisted the help of 100+ undergraduate students to conserve rare orchids throughout the world. Among the species studied include Dendrophylax lindenii in Florida and Cuba, Platanthera leucophaea of the tallgrass prairies in central North America, and Peristylus holochila endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago. He has also collaborated with researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in Madagascar studying their mycorrhizal fungi, and rare orchids in the Western Pacific (Palau) with researchers from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.  He has authored/co-authored 70+ peer-reviewed scientific publications, three book chapters, and illustrated two books in color involving insects.  In February 2020, he presented a talk to the U.S. Postal Service’s unveiling of the Wild Orchids stamp series in Coral Gables, Florida. Since 2023, he has been involved with showcasing native orchids and their conservation at the Chelsea Flower Show in London.  His latest project involves a book he co-authored with Phil Seaton (Saving Orchids: Stories of Species Survival in a Changing World) currently in press for early January 2025 (University of Chicago Press/Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

Head of Research of Lankester Botanical Garden, University of Costa Rica, where she teaches courses on Scientific Drawing, Orchidology, Agriculture Botany and General Botany. Her work focuses on the roles of endophytic fungi in coexistence and distribution of epiphytic orchids. She also applies morphological, ecological, molecular and biogeographical tools to assess the identity, distribution, systematic and phylogenetic relationships in members of Orchidaceae.

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