Meet our team
Aireona Bonnie Raschke, Ph.D.
Central Arizona Conservation Alliance (CAZCA) Program Director
Email: araschke@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8167
Facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration among CAZCA partners to protect and restore natural spaces in the Maricopa County region, community engagement in conservation, nature-based tourism, and natural resource management and policy
Alexandra (Ali) Schuessler, M.S.
Lab Manager
Email: aschuessler@dbg.org
Root associated fungi in desert and riparian plants, and its influence and impact on restoration. Genomics of fungi and desert plants. Plant physiology of riparian and desert plants.
Andrew Salywon, PH.D.
Herbarium Curator and Research Botanist
Email: asalywon@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8107
Botanical inventories, endemic, rare and endangered plants of Arizona and the Sonoran Desert, molecular ecology, new crop development for arid-lands, and plant systematics using both traditional and molecular data
Beth Brand
Librarian
Schilling Library
Email: bbrand@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8133
Collections care and conservation, archiving and preservation of the Garden’s history
Dan F. Koepke, M.S.
Research Technician
Email: dkoepke@dbg.org
Phone: 480.941.1225
Plant-water relations, plant hydraulic systems, morphological and physiological investigation, histology and riparian restoration
Jeny Davis
EcoFlora Coordinator
Email: jdavis@dbg.org
Phone: 480.941.3506
Jeny coordinates the Metro Phoenix EcoFlora, a collaborative community science project of Desert Botanical Garden and the Central Arizona Conservation Alliance (CAZCA).
Joe Mcauliffe, PH.D.
Director Emeritus & Senior Research Scientist
Email: jmcauliffe@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8105
Soil-vegetation relationships in arid and semi-arid environments, ecology and conservation of semi-arid grasslands, development of long-lived clonal shrubs
Joni Ward, M.S.
Plant Registrar
Email: jward@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.2078
Databasing and accessioning the Garden’s Living Collection, Flora of Arizona and the Southwest
Kevin R. Hultine, Ph.D.
Plant Physiologist/Ecophysiologist
Email: khultine@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8195
Plant-water and nutrient relations of arid and semi-arid regions; desert riparian plant ecology and conservation; population dynamics of desert shrubs, trees and cactus species.
Kim Pegram, Ph.D.
Program Director, Pollinator Conservation and Research
Email: kpegram@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8135
Butterfly ecology and conservation, monarch conservation, plant-insect interactions, butterfly and pollinator science outreach to encourage conservation action.
Kimberlie McCue, PH.D.
Chief Science Officer
Email: kmccue@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8137
Population ecology and genetics of rare plants, in situ and ex situ seed bank dynamics, invasive species, conservation science outreach and education
Kristen Kindl
Living Collections Coordinator/CPS Project Manager
Email: kkindl@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.2078
Databasing and accessioning the Garden’s Living Collections; production and placement of plant identification labels
Natalie Melkonoff, B.S.
Plant and Insect Ecology Program Coordinator
Email: nmelkonoff@dbg.org
Phone: 480.941-3516
Plant-insect interactions, monarch conservation, native plant propagation, plant physiology, habitat restoration and science outreach
Raul Puente-Martinez, M.S.
Curator Of Living Collections, Research Botanist
Email: rpuente@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8110
Systematics of Opuntieae (Cactaceae), hybridization of prickly pears, floristics, use of native and low-water-use plants in landscaping
Sarah Hunkins, B.S.
Herbarium Collections Manager
Email: shunkins@dbg.org
Phone: 480.418.8152
Curation, conservation and processing of the collections
Shannon D. Fehlberg, Ph.D.
Dorrance Family Foundation Conservation Biologist
Email: sfehlberg@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8143
Evolution and population genetics and genomics of rare plants and their relatives; distribution and historical biogeography; factors affecting genetic and species diversity; polyploidy and hybridization
Steven A. Blackwell, B.S.
Conservation Collections Manager
Email: sblackwell@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8175
Developing propagation techniques and protocols for rare plants, seed germination and viability studies of rare plants, habitat restoration and species reintroduction
Tania Hernandez, PH.D.
New World Succulents Cactus Scientist
Email: thernandez@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8129
Origin, evolution and diversification of succulent lineages with a focus on Cactaceae and Agavoideae
Wendy C. Hodgson, M.S
Herbarium Curator Emerita
Senior Research Botanist
Email: whodgson@dbg.org
Phone: 480.481.8108
Floristics of Southwestern United States, particularly Grand Canyon region, Cactaceae and Agavaceae systematics, ethnobotany of Sonoran Desert, invasive species, systematics of rare Southwestern plants
