I am currently a senior instructor at University of Colorado Denver. I teach courses in plant biology including Flora of Colorado, Plant Science and Plant Diversity. I received my PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin Madison, specializing in plant molecular systematics in 1997. My doctoral thesis was on evolution and molecular phylogenetics of Hawaiian Psychotria (Rubiaceae). I was formerly a tenured faculty member at the University of South Dakota (from 2001-2012), and my research there focused on evolution and speciation in the Hawaiian endemic genus Schiedea (Caryophyllaceae).