Nicole Phelan

Graduate Student, Department of Plant Biology

Nicole_Phelan_Student_Image

BIO

I grew up in northern New Jersey before I moved across the country and earned my B.S. in Biology at UCLA. During this time, I became fascinated by the diverse plants of the California Floristic Province in the field and at the UCLA Herbarium. I also became heavily involved in native plant restoration, conservation, and urban green space activism in Los Angeles’s 5th District. Following undergrad, I worked at the Willowwood Arboretum in New Jersey, where I helped curate a special collection of cultivated plants for the Chrysler Herbarium at Rutgers University. When I’m not outside looking at plants, I love to bake, cook, read, and kayak.

Currently, I am researching Neotropical fern hybrids in the Testo lab. Specifically, I am interested in unraveling the parental origins and biogeographic history of hybrids involving Diplazium plantaginifolium using morphological measurements, SEM images, and DNA sequencing data. Generally, I am drawn to questions that have an ecological impact and advance knowledge of the global environmental crisis.

Bio

I grew up in northern New Jersey before I moved across the country and earned my B.S. in Biology at UCLA. During this time, I became fascinated by the diverse plants of the California Floristic Province in the field and at the UCLA Herbarium. I also became heavily involved in native plant restoration, conservation, and urban green space activism in Los Angeles’s 5th District. Following undergrad, I worked at the Willowwood Arboretum in New Jersey, where I helped curate a special collection of cultivated plants for the Chrysler Herbarium at Rutgers University. When I’m not outside looking at plants, I love to bake, cook, read, and kayak.

Currently, I am researching Neotropical fern hybrids in the Testo lab. Specifically, I am interested in unraveling the parental origins and biogeographic history of hybrids involving Diplazium plantaginifolium using morphological measurements, SEM images, and DNA sequencing data. Generally, I am drawn to questions that have an ecological impact and advance knowledge of the global environmental crisis.