Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Plant Biology
Cornell University
2011

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Behavioral Biology
The Johns Hopkins University
2004

Intro. to Environmental Studies

A survey course on of cross-disciplinary environmental topics, including climate change, conservation, environmental justice, environmental policy and plastic pollution. 

Plant Diversity

A biology course that covers the fundamentals of the plant kingdom: plant diversity, plant morphology, plant-human interactions and plant evolution. 

Honors Thesis

A course for seniors enrolled in the COAS Honors Program to complete and submit their honors thesis in line with program requirements. 

2023 AAAS Fellow

Samuel Noel Postlethwait Award, 2023, Botanical Society of America

Dean’s Award, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University

Outstanding Teaching for Associate Professor, 2020-2021, College of Arts and Science, Howard University

Fulbright Scholar, Academic year 2020-2021, Austria

Faculty Appreciation Award, 2020, Office of Honors and Scholar Development, Howard University

A plastome phylogeny of Rumex (Polygonaceae)

A plastome phylogeny of Rumex (Polygonaceae) illuminates the divergent evolutionary histories of docks and sorrels

The genus Rumex L. (Polygonaceae) provides a unique system for investigating the evolutionary development of sex determination and molecular rate evolution. Historically, Rumex has been divided, both taxonomically and colloquially into two groups: ‘docks’ and ‘sorrels’. A well-resolved phylogeny can help evaluate a genetic basis for this division. Here we present a plastome phylogeny for 34 species of Rumex, inferred using maximum likelihood criteria. The historical ‘docks’ (Rumex subgenus Rumex) were resolved as monophyletic. The historical ‘sorrels’ (Rumex subgenera Acetosa and Acetosella) were resolved together, though not monophyletic due to the inclusion of R. bucephalophorus (Rumex subgenus Platypodium).

A new phylogeny of Rumex (Polygonaceae)

A new phylogeny of Rumex (Polygonaceae) adds evolutionary context to the diversity of reproductive systems present in the genus

Rumex is one of about 50 genera in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae. The genus comprises about 200 species with bisexual, or more commonly, unisexual flowers, with the species displaying monoecious, dioecious, synoecious (hermaphroditic) or polygamous reproductive systems. Some of the dioecious species have heteromorphic sex chromosomes, which is rare amongst angiosperms. We here present a plastid phylogeny of 67 species, representing all four subgenera. For this study, we used three chloroplast markers, rbcL, trnH-psbA, trnL-F and dense taxon sampling to reconstruct the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Rumex to date. The reconstructed phylogeny for this work resolves six major clades and one large grade in Rumex subg.

A Floral Checklist for Wheaton Regional Park, Montgomery County, Maryland

A Floral Checklist for Wheaton Regional Park, Montgomery County, Maryland

Here, we present a comprehensive checklist of all species collected in the park over the past 50 years, discuss recent plant introductions, and share a platform for a digital flora of the park through the Mid-Atlantic Megalopolis online portal. We documented 393 vascular plant species from the 1960s, as part of a comprehensive review of those collections. The 2010s collections recorded 293 vascular plant species, and an additional 16 species of bryophytes. In total, 554 species of plants (vascular and non-vascular) in 326 genera and 118 families have been recorded in Wheaton Regional Park over the past 50 years. We found that the surveys in the 2010s identified a substantial number of vascular plant species that were not recorded in the 1960s surveys.

Creating an Instrument to Measure Social and Cultural Self-efficacy

Creating an Instrument to Measure Social and Cultural Self-efficacy Indicators for Persistence of HBCU Undergraduates in STEM

This study is part of a larger research that explores the creation of an instrument to capture the social and cultural factors that affect Black students’ persistence in STEM. Most research on self-efficacy in the science education literature were either done at predominantly White institutions, during summer programs for students of color, or on predominantly White populations. This study provides insights into self-efficacy indicators at an institution that was specifically created to consider the social, cultural, and historical implications for educating Blacks in STEM.

A Molecular Phylogeny for the Genus Coccoloba (Polygonaceae)

A Molecular Phylogeny for the Genus Coccoloba (Polygonaceae) with an Assessment of Biogeographic Patterns

Species in the genus Coccoloba are trees, shrubs, and lianas present in low elevation tropical and sub-tropical forests. Since 1756, well over 400 taxa have been described for Coccoloba. Coccoloba species are natively distributed throughout the New World in a variety of habitats. Despite being distributed throughout the Neotropics, the concentration of Coccoloba species in a given area varies considerably, with four centers of diversity for the genus: southern and coastal Brazil, the West Indies, Mesoamerica, and Amazonia. We here present the first molecular phylogeny of Coccoloba and use this phylogeny to investigate geographic patterns of diversity within the genus.