Emily is interested in how landscape level drivers like fire and productivity influence plant community diversity and composition as well as regenerating forests. Her work takes place primarily in California subalpine systems. Emily hails from Washington state and graduated from Western Washington University in 2013 with a BS in Biology and a BA in Spanish. In the years post-undergrad and pre-grad school she integrated her passion for Spanish language and cultures with her interest in biodiversity and botany on three continents. Starting in Panama at the Smithsonian Tropical Research institute, she studied how mating behaviors in tropical butterflies lead to sexual isolation and speciation. She then completed a Fulbright fellowship in Madrid, Spain, where she used primary source notes and diaries at the Royal Botanic Garden to map vouchers collected by Alexander von Humboldt in Peru. Despite her travels, Emily’s heart resides in the western United States where she has spent 7 field seasons working as a botanist for state and federal agencies.