Cathy Paris
Botany Instructor, Field Naturalist Program
Senior Lecturer Emerita
308 Jeffords Hall
63 Carrigan Drive
Burlington, VT 05405
United States
- Ph.D. 1991, University of Vermont
Area(s) of expertise
- Plant systematics and evolution
BIO
Cathy teaches Field Botany for Natural Resource Professionals, a fast-paced course designed to acquaint graduate students with the diversity of vascular plant species in Vermont and the organization of those species into natural communities. Prior to her retirement, she also taught a variety of other courses at UVM in field botany, plant systematics, and plant evolution. Her particular loves are walking in the woods, getting to know new plants and landscapes, and sharing good food and music with friends.
As a member of the Plant Systematics Group at UVM, she has investigated the phylogeography of a set of plant species that are rare around Vermont’s Lake Champlain but which are common on sand dunes of the Atlantic Coast, including Champlain beachgrass, Ammophila breviligulata subsp. champlainensis, beachpea, Lathyrus japonicus, and golden heather, Hudsonia tomentosa. Her dissertation research was a study of genetic divergence and speciation in the Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair ferns) complex and of the role of geographic and ecological isolating mechanisms in promoting divergence and speciation within it.
Courses
PBIO 6690: Field Botany for Natural Resources Professionals
Bio
Cathy teaches Field Botany for Natural Resource Professionals, a fast-paced course designed to acquaint graduate students with the diversity of vascular plant species in Vermont and the organization of those species into natural communities. Prior to her retirement, she also taught a variety of other courses at UVM in field botany, plant systematics, and plant evolution. Her particular loves are walking in the woods, getting to know new plants and landscapes, and sharing good food and music with friends.
As a member of the Plant Systematics Group at UVM, she has investigated the phylogeography of a set of plant species that are rare around Vermont’s Lake Champlain but which are common on sand dunes of the Atlantic Coast, including Champlain beachgrass, Ammophila breviligulata subsp. champlainensis, beachpea, Lathyrus japonicus, and golden heather, Hudsonia tomentosa. Her dissertation research was a study of genetic divergence and speciation in the Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair ferns) complex and of the role of geographic and ecological isolating mechanisms in promoting divergence and speciation within it.
Courses
PBIO 6690: Field Botany for Natural Resources Professionals
Publications
- Barrington, D. S. and C. A. Paris. (2008). Refugia and migration in the Quaternary history of the New England flora. Rhodora 109:369-386.
- Walker, P. J., C. A. Paris, and D. S. Barrington. (1998). Taxonomy and phylogeography of the North American beachgrasses. Amer. J. Bot. 85:.
- Schmitz, S., C. A. Paris, and D. S. Barrington. (1997). Assessment of genetic variation in beachpea (Lathyrus maritimus) populations on Lake Champlain, Vermont. Amer. J. Bot. 84:230.
- Howard, B. A., C. A. Paris, and D.S. Barrington. (1994). Electrophoretic evidence for allopolyploidy in the Asplenium trichomanes complex in eastern North America. American Journal of Botany 81:130.
- Paris, C.A. (1993). Adiantum (generic treatment). In Flora of North America, Volume 2, ed. Flora of North America Editorial Committee. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Paris, C.A. (1991). Adiantum viridimontanum, a new species of maidenhair fern in eastern North America. Rhodora 93:105-122.
- Paris, C.A., F.S. Wagner, and W.H. Wagner, Jr. (1989). Cryptic species, species delimitation, and taxonomic practice in the homosporous ferns. Amer. Fern J. 79:46-54.
- Paris, C.A., and M.D. Windham. (1988). A biosystematic investigation of the Adiantum pedatum complex in eastern North America. Syst. Bot. 13:240-255.