Leadership team
|
Joey Shaw, PhD.
Director of the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage UC Foundation Professor of Biology, Geology, Environmental Science University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Joey has been part of the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the GSMNP since 1998, joining the organizing committee in 2012, becoming Chair in 2015, and Director in 2017. He leads botanical events at the SWFP from ferns to trees and shrubs to wildflowers. At UTC, he teaches Plant Taxonomy, Plant Morphology, Field Botany, and Biogeography and he often has a lab group of 3-5 graduate students. He’s an editor and author of the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee and currently working on the Second Edition. |
|
|
Shannon Gordon
Meeting Planner, Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage and Association of Southeastern Biologists Shannon has been a part of Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the GSMNP since 2017. She has been involved with the meeting and events industry for over 30 years serving her clients and attendees across many organizations. It is her continued honor to support event logistics, leader, and attendee experiences for the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage. |
|
Quinn Towery
Graduate Student and Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Graduate Assistant to Joey Shaw, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Quinn is a current graduate student in Dr. Shaw's lab field botany, conservation, and floristics. He received his undergraduate from the University of Kentucky, he's worked for the National Park Service as a Biological Science Technician, and the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. When Quinn isn't busy at UTC, he can be found rock climbing. |
|
|
Courtney Alley
Member at Large, Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Courtney has her Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and she was the first Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Graduate Assistant. For her graduate research she studied invasive plant species distribution in the state of Tennessee. Currently she is a GIS specialist for Hamilton County Geospatial Technology. |
|
|
|
Matt Heard, PhD., Belmont University
Member at Large, Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Matt is currently the program coordinator for the Environmental Science department at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. At Belmont, he teaches Intro to Environmental Science and Principles of Biology II, among other courses. The research within Matt's lab revolves largely around pollution and other anthropogenic effects on the natural world. When Matt isn't at the university, he can be found hiking, running, gardening, and hanging out with his family. |
|
|
Randy Small, PhD., University of Tennessee Knoxville
Member at Large, Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Randy is the Director of Biology Teaching and Learning at UTK. His research focuses primarily on plant systematics and molecular evolution, specifically within the family Malvaceae. Randy teaches, among others, field botany, evolution, and organismal/ecological biology at UTK. |
|
Zack Murrell, PhD., Appalachian State University
Member at Large, Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Zack is a Professor of Biology at Appalachian State University. Zack's research focuses on species boundaries and systematics, floristics, and biodiversity informatics. He has also placed efforts into developing the South East Regional Network of Expertise and Collections (SERNEC), an effort to digitize countless herbarium specimens. |
|
|
Stylianos Chatzimanolis, PhD.,
UC Foundation Professor University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Member at Large, Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Stelios is a Professor of Entomology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His research focuses on rove beetle systematics and describing new species of insects. Additionally, he is interested in discovering how many (and what kind of) beetles call the Southeastern USA home. Stelios runs the UTC Insect Collection which is the first and only beetle collection in TN to be digitized. |
|
Margaret Kovach, Ph.D., Colorado State University
UC Foundation Professor Emerita Peggy was a professor of Biology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga until her retirement in 2022. She has been active in the Institutional Biosafety committee and she has a keen interest in all things nature. |
|
OUR PARTNERS
|
|
|
OUR friends
|
|
|