Lane E. Butler

PERSONAL STATEMENT

I came to the Desert Botanical Garden in 2019 after completing my MS in Plant Conservation Biology and teaching plant biology at the community college level. As Tonto National Forest Rare Plant Community Science Project Coordinator, I am tasked with recruiting and training community scientists to survey for rare plants on the Tonto National Forest, as well as co-leading survey trips and data curation and sharing. My project, known informally as the Tonto Rare Plant Project, seeks to assist the Tonto National Forest in meeting botanical capacity needs toward plant conservation decision-making via community scientist engagement. As a rare plant researcher, I work on an ongoing in situ conservation and restoration project involving Echinocereus arizonicus subsp. arizonicus, the federally listed endangered Arizona hedgehog cactus. In both of my roles, I am excited to be part of building bridges toward the conservation and restoration of rare plants and their habitats.

Selected Publications:
Butler, Lane E. and Raul Puente Martinez (2023). Rare Plant Project brings community scientists into the field for an endangered cactus. Cactus and Succulent Journal, vol. 95 no. 3, pp. 219-221.

Butler, Lane E. and Raul Puente Martinez (2023). Restoration efforts for the endangered Arizona Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus arizonicus subsp. arizonicus) in Central Arizona. Cactus and Succulent Journal, vol. 95 no. 3, pp. 211-218.