Category: Taxon LeadersPage 1 of 2

Grecia De La Cruz Melo Torres is the Urban Advantage Manager at Staten Island Zoo, where she connects students, teachers, and families with hands-on science learning and conservation…

Dr. Brandon Ely just finished his Ph.D. in molecular biology at the CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College. His doctoral research focused on genomics and transmission cycle dynamics…

Isabella Torres is an environmental educator with a bachelor’s degree in Geosciences from Eckerd College. Most of her experience with wildlife surrounds New York Harbor and Tampa Bay….

Nic Comparato is a wildlife scientist specializing in bats and bioacoustics. They are an associate field biologist at NYC Bird Alliance and a PhD Student with the Aronson Lab…

Andrew Cannon is an amateur mycologist and long time member of the New York Mycological Society. He has studied fungi since 2008, with a particular interest in phytopathogenic…

Dr. Gabriella Quartuccia is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Steven Franks’ lab at Fordham University, where she studies rice adaptation to drought. Her research interests are: species evolution…

Jeremy is a graduate student at CUNY studying lichens, which are important indicators of habitat and air quality. He is researching why some species are able to grow…

I am a Queens native with an interest in birds and nature photography. I have previously worked at the American Museum of Natural History and the New York…

Molly Nash Rouzie leads plant walks for Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery and is currently teaching botany at NYBG’s School of Professional Horticulture. Molly is also a council member of…

Zeke King Phillips is a PhD Candidate in Geosciences at the University of Cincinnati where he studies the dietary habits of terrestrial land snails. He can most often…

I am an assistant professor at UConn Stamford and have done urban population genetic research on salamanders and squirrels to see how urbanization affects native wildlife in the…

I am an active urban naturalist and currently an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden. I am past President of the Linnaean Society of New York.

My lab focuses on the study of urban microbial communities, and we have lead a national initiative to provide research experiences for undergraduate students in exploring complex microbiomes…

Nickolas Dubin is a Queens-native Naturalist and Queens College Masters Student, with a background in Geology. He teaches both ecology and geology labs at Queens College, and specializes…

I’m Eli, I work on the lichens of the Appalachian Mountains at the New York Botanical Garden.

Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener) is an urban naturalist and avid iNaturalist user (@xris) based in Brooklyn. Aside from their habitat garden, their “local patch” is Prospect Park.

Olga Calderón is a professor of Biology and Microbiology at LaGuardia Community College (CUNY). She received her Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate School and University Center in Science…

Christian Liriano is a student at CUNY and a freelance field biologist. His research interests are the habitat ecology/taxonomy of understudied organisms from northeastern North America (e.g., spiders,…

Zihao Wang is a botanist affiliated with NYC Parks. Zihao says, “As an immigrant to the U.S., observing local nature and identifying plants is my way of making…