Faculty Profile
Donald Leopold

Toby Liss
trliss@syr.edu

• Degree Sought: PHD
• Graduate Advisor(s): Leopold
• Area of Study: EFB Conservation Biology

Graduate Research Topic
Marginal plant species for use on green roofs and the effects of species composition on green roof functioning for stormwater reduction

Undergraduate Study
University of Pittsburgh (Ecology and Evolution, Linguistics)

Social Media
@mslissecologist on Instagram and Twitter

Sarah Olney
solney@syr.edu

• Degree Sought: MPS
• Graduate Advisor(s): Leopold
• Area of Study: EFB Conservation Biology

Alex Petzke
apetzke@syr.edu

• Degree Sought: PHD
• Graduate Advisor(s): Leopold
• Area of Study: EFB Conservation Biology

Graduate Research Topic
My dissertation research is focused on the inland salt marshes of the northeastern United States. I am performing the first thorough survey of the halophytic flora of Central New York's inland salt marshes in over 40 years and using my findings to assess how it has changed over time. It is unknown how halophytes native to these rare disjunct wetlands came to occupy them: by dispersal or vicariance events, and from eastern or western populations. I am addressing this question by investigating the phylogeography of the widespread halophyte Schoenoplectus americanus (Cyperaceae) as a case study.

Favorite Quote
"There is a kind of lazy pleasure in useless and out-of-the-way erudition." -Jorge Luis Borges

Warren Staver
wcstaver@syr.edu

• Degree Sought: MS
• Graduate Advisor(s): Leopold
• Area of Study: EFB Conservation Biology