BSA Spotlight Series  

The BSA Spotlight Series highlights professionals and early career scientists in the BSA community. Scientists' profiles are shared on all BSA social media platforms, Membership Matters, the BSA eNewsletter, and on this webpage.

The spotlight series shares both scientific goals and achievements, as well as personal interests of the botanical scientists, so you can get to know your BSA community better.

Are you a BSA member who would like to be highlighted, or do you know a BSA member that we should highlight in our Spotlight Series? Click here to fill out a simple form. This opportunity is open to current professional and early career (undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral positions) BSA members, to learn more about becoming a BSA member, click here.

Below is the most recent BSA member Spotlight. To see more information on past Spotlights, use the menu to the left.

This month we have TWO Spotlights:
Rachel L. Benway and Kiona A. Leeman.

Rachel L. Benway
Graduate Student
Syracuse University
Biology Department
Posted 7-14-25

Collecting soil cores from field sites on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains of New York

I currently study symbiotic interactions between plants and fungi in the mountains of the northeastern United States—specifically, how these interactions shift along environmental and elevational gradients and how climate change may disrupt the balance of these interactions and the accompanying species shifts. As an ecologist, I focus on the interconnectedness of all components of an ecosystem and their influences on one another.

Before beginning my PhD in fungal ecology at Syracuse University, I spent most of my life in rural Maine. My childhood was unconventional in the best way: I was homeschooled, which gave me the freedom to dive deeply into the subjects I loved and learn through hands-on exploration. I spent my days climbing trees to sit among the branches and read, or wandering through fields, forests, and along the rocky Maine coast observing and interacting with the natural world around me. I wandered the beach collecting rocks and shells, chased butterflies and dragonflies across fields, caught garter snakes in the woods, and picked my way through marshes photographing great blue herons. I collected frog eggs and watched them hatch under a microscope; they lived in a bowl on the kitchen counter and I fed them boiled lettuce until they grew legs and then I released them back into their stream. I spent hours poking around ocean tidepools and watching hermit crabs trundle along, little fairy shrimp wriggle away, and barnacles open their tiny doors to sweep the water for food particles. The natural world was my classroom, and I felt at home in it. Early experiences like these shaped my identity and fostered a deep curiosity about biology and love for the environment.

I had my first memorable encounter with fungi at around age 13 when I noticed what I thought was an orange peel in my backyard: turned out to be an orange peel mushroom (so named because of its impressive resemblance). I began photographing fungi, slipping away into the woods on rainy mornings to find the small bright splashes of color lurking in the grayness—palest lavender, neon orange, pure white. I’d lie in the mud photographing delicate gills, collect samples to inspect under my magnifying glass, and research everything I found. This deepened my curiosity as I discovered the ecological importance of fungi: providing essential nutrients to plants and trees through mycorrhizal networks, decomposing billions of tons of natural waste each year, sometimes even affording plants valuable protection from pathogens. The more I learned, the more questions I had, and the more I realized how little is known about fungi. Reading “scientists aren’t sure…” again and again made me want to become one of the scientists asking and answering those questions.

At Colby College, I majored in environmental science and designed an independent study in mycology that blended my interests in ecology, writing, art, and environmentalism. After graduating, I worked at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, conducting biomedical research on mouse models. I lived next to Acadia National Park and spent much of my time hiking, running, and exploring the park—and marveling at the unique ecosystems and the plants and fungi that occupied them. Although I knew my biomedical work was valuable, I felt drawn back to the ecological world—especially botany and mycology. It felt almost wasteful not to pursue the thing I loved most. I eventually joined a fungal ecology lab at Syracuse University and have been committed to furthering scientific understanding of how plant-fungal partnerships shape the northeastern temperate and boreal forests I’ve always loved.

A view of the ecotone region that I study where the vegetation shifts from temperate
to boreal forest on Bigelow Mountain in Maine

How Rachel got interested in the botanical sciences:

I have always been interested in the natural world and felt that I would like to do something related to environmental science or botany. Even as a toddler, I gardened with my mom in her extensive flower gardens surrounding our small house and helped tend to the tiny organic vegetable garden in our backyard. I rescued worms to relocate into the gardens, and collected tomatoes, peas, beans, and herbs in a basket each evening for dinner. Our house was always filled with potted plants, and from the time I was about 5 years old I had my very own little “fairy garden.”

This early exposure to plants, combined with my natural inclination toward spending my time outside observing the natural world, laid the foundation for my interest in the botanical sciences. I found endless fascination in the plant world and over time, this evolved into a more scientific curiosity, eventually leading me to my current work in fungal ecology.

(Left) Resting during a hike on Mount O-J-I in Baxter State Park in northern Maine.
(Right) Hiking at sunset in Acadia National Park with a view of Jordan Pond and autumn foliage in the background

Rachel's advice for those just starting their botanical journey:

My advice seems simple, but follow what excites you. Not everyone has something they feel truly passionate about, so if you’re lucky enough to have that spark when it comes to botany—lean in to that fascination. Stay curious about everything, ask lots of questions, hold on to your sense of wonder, and remember that a love of learning will carry you through any tough times in your botanical pursuits.

Rachel's other passions:

Kiona A. Leeman
Graduate Student
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
Biology Department
Posted 7-14-25

LinkedIn
iNaturalist

Enjoying a day of field work in a sand prairie.

Until now, I have worked in many different aspects of the field of botany, all of which I have enjoyed. I have worked in herbaria and come to appreciate the importance of such facilities. I have done research in lab settings and enjoyed the precise and technical aspects of that work, and I have also done fieldwork and vegetation surveys as well. I feel that there is something for almost anyone in the broad field of botany.

Currently, I am a graduate student seeking my master's degree at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse under the advisement of Dr. Adam Schneider. I am studying the evolutionary history of Aphyllon, a relatively small genus of achlorophyllous holoparasites in the angiosperm family Orobanchaceae. The genus consists of two different sections, one of which is relatively well-resolved, while the other is not. I will be using the Angiosperms353 probe kit to perform target capture on species in the unresolved section in an attempt to resolve some of the species complexes within it. Previous evidence has suggested that there may be hybridization occurring in the section, which I will investigate as well. Additionally, I will include some newly described Aphyllon species in my analysis, one of which (Aphyllon chiapense) has not had any published genetic analysis to date. For more information, come and see me and my poster at Botany 2025 in Palm Springs, California!

Selecting tissue from the newly described Aphyllon chiapense for genetic analysis; photo courtesy of Adam Schneider.

How Kiona got interested in the botanical sciences:

I first realized my interest in plants and botany in high school. Growing up, my family always had a large garden and flowers growing in landscaping around the house, both of which I would help my parents pick out, plant, and care for. I believe this, in combination with our couple of acres of untamed land, led to my interest in plants. Determined to start gaining experience in this area right away, my first job was at a garden and gift store. This also led me to collect many houseplants.

In late high school, I thought I would pair my interest in plants and my interest in art by being a landscape designer. However, once in college, I was introduced to biology in a way that high school biology had never grabbed me. I was taken on a metaphorical walk through the tree of life and all of its branches, and I was amazed. The professor was principally a geneticist, and since that intro biology class and subsequent classes with him, I have been interested in taxonomy, systematics, and genetics.

A scan of my acrylic painting of the nearby La Crosse River Marsh.

Kiona's advice for those just starting their botanical journey:

Go on lots of hikes and take lots of photos! Bringing home plant photos after a hike to attempt to identify them was my first introduction to learning about my local plants. I would also advise reaching out to local hiking groups or botanical clubs to join in on educational walks and hikes.

Kiona's other passions:

In my free time, I like to hike and forage for both plants and fungi, especially at new locations with friends. I love the citizen science platform iNaturalist, so my interest in nature photography has been growing, too. Outside of nature stuff, I like to play video games and try new foods and restaurants. On the rare occasion that I have the time, I enjoy painting and drawing as well.

• Oluwatoyosi Adaramodu
  University of Pennsylvania
  
  
• Teressa Alexander
  The University of the West Indies, Trinidad
  
  
• Dr. Andrea Berardi
  Harvard University
  
  
• Mario Blanco-Sánchez
  Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
  
  
• Liming Cai
  UC Riverside
  
  
• Brandon Corder
  University of Wisconsin-Madison
  
  
• Dr. Rocio Deanna
  University of Colorado, Boulder
  
  
• Trinity Depatie
  University of South Carolina
  
  
• Molly Edwards
  Science IRL Productions
  
  
• Nicholas J. Engle-Wrye
  Mississippi State University
  
  
• Josh Felton
  Colorado College
  
  
• Danielle Gafford
  University of Missouri
  
  
• Kadeem J. Gilbert
  Pennsylvania State University
  
  
• Sonal Gupta
  University of Michigan

• Adriana I. Hernandez
  California Academy of Sciences
  
  
• Nina House
  California Botanic Garden (Claremont Graduate University)
  
  
• Matias Köhler
  São Carlos University (UFSCar), São Paulo, Brazil
  
  
• Natalia Contreras Ortiz
  The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh RBGE and University of Edinburgh
  
  
• Oluwatobi Oso
  Yale University
  
  
• Chelsea Pretz
  University of Colorado, Boulder
  
  
• Dustin M. Ray
  University of Minnesota, Duluth
  
  
• Johan David Reyes
  Edge Hill University / World Museum Liverpool
  
  
• Luiza Teixeira-Costa
  Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  
  
• Shawn K. Thomas
  University of Missouri
  
  
• Greg Tooley
  Kansas State University
  
  
• Kathryn Vanden Hoek
  University of Missouri - Columbia
  
  
• Emily Wedel
  Kansas State University
  
  
• Min Ya
  University of Connecticut