The Plant Press

From The Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 4, October 2019.

The Global Genome Initiative for Gardens at 5 years: Intern retrospectives

By Morgan R. Gostel, Farahnoz Khojayori, Jacob Suissa, Kadiera Ingram, Maryam Sedaghatpour, Monica Marcelli, Seth Hamby, and Vicki A. Funk

This year marks five years since the start of the Global Genome Initiative for Gardens (GGI-Gardens) program and it seems an appropriate time to reflect upon the program’s accomplishments. In this time, we have partnered with more than 25 botanic gardens across four continents; moved our headquarters to the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) in Fort Worth, Texas; collected over 3,000 vouchers; funded four GGI-Gardens partner awards; sequenced more than 5,000 plant DNA barcode loci; and are making genome-quality tissue and DNA sequences available for researchers through the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN).

At the core of GGI-Gardens is building capacity for the next generation of botany, whether by mobilizing a worldwide voucher program through partnerships with botanic gardens or by training and supporting the next generation of botanists through internships and fellowships. More than 10 interns and fellows have been trained through the GGI-Gardens program and over half of them are still involved in botany! This summer a couple of GGI-Gardens alumni, Maryam Sedaghatpour and Jacob Suissa, presented at the annual Botany Conference in Tucson, Arizona and we wanted to highlight their (and other GGI-Gardens alumni) accomplishments. We asked a few past interns to share reflections and updates. 

Are you interested in getting involved with GGI-Gardens? Your garden can join our partnership by signing our Memorandum of Cooperation (http://ggi.si.edu/ggi-gardens). 

Farahnoz Khojayori

A summer among wildflowers under shadows of ancient trees, and filled with the trickling sounds of life is the gift of a GGI-Gardens fellowship. During the course of three months, Morgan Gostel, Seth Hamby, and I travelled across seven of the ten ecoregions of Texas. In our mission to collect genome quality tissues of the flora of Texas, we made over 250 collections at the genus level, representing 84 plant families from the tree of life. 

Our adventures this summer took us from BRIT into 13 different botanical sites. Each excursion was a snapshot of the botanical field including: species conservation, horticulture of rare species, botanical education, discovery of new phenomena, and cultivation of a botanical culture. The most profound part of the experience, aside from meeting some of the most amazing human beings in the world, was witnessing the awe-striking morphological diversity of plants. I was mesmerized by the intricate leaf structures of ferns, the curious delicacy of epiphytic orchids, and the complex arrangements of floral structures and their transitions to paradoxical fruit structures. I feel profoundly inspired by this indelible experience and am enthusiastic for a life in the study and appreciation of botanical wonders. 

Jacob Suissa

Working with Vicki Funk and Morgan Gostel as one of the GGI-Gardens interns in 2017 was an opportunity that prepared me well as a current doctoral student in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. As a GGI-Gardens intern I was able to enhance my skills in plant identification and specimen curation, both of which are insurmountable in my current work. My dissertation project as a doctoral student in the Friedman lab centers around untangling the 200 years of study on vascular arrangement in fern rhizomes to understand its evolution and functional implication. By taking both a broad scale macroevolutionary and a small-scale organismal approach, I bring a new arsenal of tools to answering these old botanical questions. 

As I progress through my Ph.D., one thing that I value are the connections I made with my scientific mentors as an intern at the NMNH and as an undergraduate. I still keep in contact with many of the people I worked with, and it is rewarding to have impactful scientific collaborations developing from our relationships. 

Kadiera Ingram

When I started my internship with GGI-Gardens I had a knack for deciphering which family or even genus a plant might belong to, but lacked the appropriate terminology to support this “hunch” or “feeling”. GGI helped me build my dictionary of morphological characteristics and become more comfortable using these terms in the field. The program also taught me how to properly preserve plant tissue for future laboratory analysis, and how to take good photos of field specimens—the kind that will allow you to key out and get a solid second opinion on your conclusions when you get back to the lab or herbarium. 

My experience with GGI-Gardens turned out to be immensely helpful in my next role as a field biologist for the US Geological Survey studying the aquatic locally invasive genus Trapa (Lythraceae). One of my roles as a technician is to help select an index of morphological traits that will allow us to visually distinguish the familiar and well-known Trapa natans from a genetically distinct, unknown Trapa recently discovered in the Potomac watershed. Field photography, detailed note taking, careful record keeping and preservation of plant tissue on silica gel for genetic analysis are all important functions of the job, and I was able to complete these tasks easily and with confidence owing to my experiences with the GGI Gardens team.

Maryam Sedaghatpour

In 2016 I was finishing the last year of my bachelor’s degree at George Mason University and came across the opportunity to intern at GGI-Gardens with Morgan Gostel and Vicki Funk. I had met Morgan two years prior in Andrea Weeks’ lab where he was doing final edits to his dissertation and I had started work on a population genetics study. When Morgan asked if I was interested in interning with GGI I knew it would be a great step forward for my career.

Our team at GGI worked towards archiving genome-quality tissue for all vascular plant genera in the world. Now, as a Ph.D. student at the University of California Berkeley, I will lead similar collecting expeditions for my own dissertation research on the phylogenetic investigation of the diversity of the Eastern Mediterranean flora. In addition to collecting specimens, conducting molecular lab work, and co-authoring my first publication, my time at NMNH was a pivotal point in my transition from an undergraduate research assistant to a member of the broader research community. I applied for and was accepted into graduate school while working at NMNH where I had the unwavering support of the GGI team, specifically Morgan and Vicki, both of whom continue to be a source of encouragement and inspiration through the ebb and flow of academic life.

In my career I aim to bring to light the unique and diverse flora that exists in the Middle East, and to create substantial conservation impact in the region. I believe living with intention and pushing culture forward is largely what drives me, but in no small part the influence of supportive and uplifting mentors like the GGI community is what has brought me to where I am today. 

Monica Marcelli

I had an unforgettable experience working with GGI. For me, it wasn’t work, it was going to paradise. What can be better than collecting plant DNA at the National Arboretum, the U.S. Botanic Garden, and Smithsonian Gardens? In addition, Morgan Gostel was an amazing supervisor. The team that I worked with was very nice, helpful and knowledgeable. I was fascinated by the hundreds of orchids that are in the SI greenhouses. Through networking at this job, I had the opportunity to meet colleagues at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). One of these, Melissa McCormick, is now on my Ph.D. Committee—now that I have begun a Ph.D. program at George Mason University (GMU). Through GGI-Gardens I learned how to collect plant DNA, and curate and mount herbarium specimens.

I started my Ph.D. at GMU at the beginning of 2019 and am now a Visiting Research Scientist at SERC, where I am working with Cypripedium. I am also learning lab techniques in molecular biology to be able to sequence and analyze my orchid data. I will attend two Restriction Amplified DNA (RAD) sequencing workshops in New York that are funded by a grant. My experience at SERC has exceeded all my expectations. I have had the privilege to do lab and field work with people who are as passionate about orchids and molecular biology as I am and also nice, friendly, smart, helpful and knowledgeable. I am also very lucky to have Melissa as a wonderful adviser and committee member. 

Seth Hamby

Texas is a state that you can drive through for 7 hours and still be in Texas; believe me, we did it this summer! Because of its geographic location, geology, and rainfall gradient, Texas supports tons of different ecoregions, ecotones, and microhabitats that foster some of the highest biodiversity in the country, second only to California. Coming into the GGI-Gardens fellowship I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured that we would devote most of our time to lab work and only get a few chances to go collecting out in the field. Little did I know that we would travel thousands of miles, spend countless hours in the field, collect amazing botanical wonders, and meet some of the coolest plant nerds on the planet. I can say with confidence that this summer has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. Not only did I gain valuable botanical and field experience, but there’s nothing like spending a week in a car to discover who you really are as a person.

We ended our summer with the mother of adventures to the rugged and gorgeous Trans-Pecos region. My only experience in the area was from driving through twice, both times at night, so I was really taken aback by the stunning and seemingly impossible beauty. Superficially it seems as if the landscape is rather desolate with pockets of life few and far between. But upon further investigation you realize that the area is a rich biodiversity hotspot. I am reminded of a quote by Henry Miller that says, “the moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” During our trip to the Trans-Pecos, I accepted a position as Head Gardener at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute. I am forever grateful for my experiences this summer as a Fellow with GGI-Gardens.