GONE BUT NOT
FORGOTTEN:
Lucia Vasquez was the very first Lab Assistant in the Allen Lab (11/93 to 7/95). She could spend hours looking under a microscope at a plant specimen, figuring out exactly which species it was! She left us to pursue a PhD in plant systematics at Cornell University. She completed this phase in her life in August 2000 and has accepted a position as assistant professor at University of Illinois, Springfield. Congratulations, Lucia!
Golda Ramos was also one of our early Lab Assistants (11/93 to 6/95). We shared many a laugh, Lucia, Golda and Sheila. We’ve lost touch with her, but last we knew she was going to be working with a biotech firm in southern California (she was a premed student while at UCR).
Samantha (Sam) Traylor was an enthusiastic Lab Assistant from 1/95 to 7/95 and a great help in the field. I remember her stomping up the hills in the Box Springs to ‘scare away’ the rattlesnakes! She graduated with a B.S. and left us. We’ve lost touch with her over the years also.
Jane Wahrman was a Lab Assistant from 9/95 to 2/96. She knew nothing about plants when she came to us after getting her B.S. in Environmental Sciences, but learned quickly and helped to set up our plant specimens for the Lake Skinner Project. She left for a ‘real’ job with an engineering consulting firm.
Lisa Jones, a Lab Assistant from 2/96 to 5/96, went to work full-time at the wonderful native plant garden sponsored by the Western Metropolitan Water District, called Gardening Southern California Style (?) on Alessandro Avenue in Riverside. Her maiden name was Jones and she recently married someone named Jones (how convenient!).
Gillian (Gill) Schultz was our first Master's Student, from 9/94 to 8/96. She worked on seed dispersal in coastal sage scrub and fought continually with the resident ground squirrels over possession of her study plots. She went on to pursue a PhD with Arturo Gomez-Pompa and worked on a project in tropical forest restoration in Mexico (at El Eden Field Station, an idyllic setting just west of Cancun!). She is now (as of 2002) officially Dr. Schultz and is moving out into the ‘real world’. Congratulations, Gil! She is moving to the Seattle area and will be looking for a teaching position at one of the local community colleges. Good luck, Gil!
Tho Vo was an energetic Lab Assistant from 10/95 to 6/97 who was unstoppable in the field! She helped in the Desert Tortoise Project (and brought her boyfriend, Vong, and her lovebird, Buddy to help too!) She and Vong moved back to the Bay Area – he to open a chiropractic business and she to go back to school in physical therapy.
Elise Focht started working with us as a Lab Assistant when she was still in high school (from 6/95 to 8/97) She returned during summer break from college - from 5/98 to 6/98 {the reign of terror} and AGAIN from 5/99 to 7/99. Then she swore she’d never come back (well, to work – she still visits and joins us for partying) and has kept her word. She ‘cracked the whip’ over the lab in an attempt to get us to clean up after ourselves, among many other things. She has graduated from University of British Columbia (as of November 2001) and working as a counselor in an alternative school.
Pam Padgett (aka Dr. Pam) was our very first PostDoc, from 6/94 to 10/97. She was a great teacher for all the students in the lab, sharing her knowledge of plant physiology and her enthusiasm. She left us for a position with the U.S. Forest Service’s Fire Lab here is Riverside. She has an adjunct position at UCR, so we still get to see her occasionally. Dr. Pam was also our resident ‘kitty specialist’, who cared for the litters of campus strays the lab folks were always finding.
WEB ADDRESS
Ben Rangel was assigned the title of Perpetual Visitor and Honorary Lab Member (1/96 to 6/98). He and Cony were good friends and he became a regular at our lab parties. After getting his PhD at UCR, he took a job in Spokan Washington working as a post doc He’s ready to move on now, tired of only being able to shop at Wal-Mart and returned to work at UCR for awhile.
Jeff Ross was a Lab Assistant ( 5/97 to 6/98) for months before I even knew who he was! He was very quiet (of course, he was the only male in the lab at this time. We were referred to as the ‘estrogen lab’ in the department). He worked with Edie on her El Eden tropical forest restoration project. He left to begin a M.S. with Arturo Gomez-Pampa, working on ethnobotany in Mexico. He’s now finished and gotten a position at the University of Mexico….and has gotten married!
Sammy Lau was a Lab Assistant from 12/97 to 7/98, who was diligent and hardworking. She worked primarily with Lidia on her project. She left to go to ??? with a religious group???
Estefania (Stefi) Perez was a visiting grad student from Spain. She was only here for three months ( 9/98 to 11/98), but she made a big impression on all of us. She was very vivacious and sociable and, I swear, knew just about everyone on campus before she left to return to Spain. She was a good sport, too. One day after she arrived, we decided to hold our first cooking class – and begin with Spanish food! So she had to teach us how to make some traditional Spanish recipes.
Shelah (bo-beela) Morita was a Lab Assistant with us three times during her stay - 9/96 to 3/97 and 9/97 to 6/98 and 1/99 to 4/99. It was hard to believe she was an undergraduate – she was very bright and hardworking and would pitch in to help out with absolutely everything, even without being asked. She became known as Shelah bo-beela in order to separate her from Sheila Kee, the SRA (also known as Queen Sheila). Because of her love of insect-plant interactions, she left to get her PhD at UC Davis with the Ecology Group (hard to get into, I might add). She has decided to study plant-pollinator coevolution of long-tongued horse-flies and the flowers they pollinate in South Africa! She's gotten an NSF grant to do the work and is leaving this September to collaborate with Steven Johnson. We're proud of you, Shelah! She can be reached at: simorita@ucdavis.edu. Check out her website by clicking here
Debbi Weaver was a Lab Assistant for Arlee Montalvo from 12/97 to 8/99. She sure knew how to work and play hard! She was able to do it all – lab, field and greenhouse work. She was very versatile - she could drive heavy equipment, then turn around and perform a belly-dance! She left to work for Claremont College as their greenhouse specialist and then moved to Malibu to be greenhouse manager for a private company - with an office overlooking the ocean. Rough life Debbi! WEB SITE ADDRESS
Tracy Tennant started out as a Lab Assistant with Andy Sanders in the Herbarium, but we were able to snag her for the (Edie) Allen Lab for a while: 12/97 to 9/99. She’s since moved to a Staff Research Associate position in the (Mike) Allen Lab, where she is presently. She is one of the hardest working, committed people I know. She, too, can do it all – lab, field and greenhouse work. She is also always interested in learning new skills, and has added GIS and mycorrhizal identification to her many talents. She’s also an excellent birder, although plants are her first love. WEB SITE ADDRESS
Nancy Storms (now Cione) started out with us as a Lab Assistant, before turning into one of our MS students. (1/96 to 12/99). She had everyone’s great respect – not only did she maintain an A average, do an incredible master’s project, but she raised 3 great kids (2 teenagers) by herself on a TA’s salary. Now that’s a challenge! Her thesis work was done on Mount Rubidoux, looking at the possibility of restoring it from grassland back to coastal sage scrub. She’s now making a better salary than the rest of us combined, working for an environmental consultant. WEB SITE ADDRESS
Lea Corkidi - PostDoc - 6/97 to 5/00. She is now back with us as a researcher, working on a joint project with Edie and Don Merhaut (Cooperative Extension Specialist in Horticulture). She is studying the effectiveness of various commercial mycorrhizal innoculums. Welcome back, Lea!
Jennie Phui was another hardworking Lab Assistant, with us from 7/98 to 5/00. She did lab, greenhouse and fieldwork, too. She worked primarily with Louise on mycorrhizal studies, setting up and maintaining the experiments. She’s gone on to bigger and better things (i.e. a good-paying, permanent job), working with the Monrovia Nursery in Pomona in their research division. She loved to take things from the ‘free table’ just in case we might need them someday!
Arlee Montalvo is one of a few Research Scientists in the department. Although an independent researcher, she was connected with our lab, from 10/97 to 6/00. She worked jointly with Edie on a large Metropolitan Water District (MWD) grant, at the new Eastside Reservoir site near Hemet. She studied the impact of different seeding treatments on native coastal sage scrub seeds. Her ‘real’ work is looking at the genetics of native species, especially Salvia mellifera and Lotus scoparius.
Thamina Ahmad – Lab Assistant – 10/98 to 6/00
Louise Egerton-Warburton was a PostDoc, officially assigned
to Mike Allen and Tim Close’s labs from 2000-2002, but we still claimed her as ‘ours’. She’ was with us since November
1994. Although she left to return to Australia for a while – she
couldn’t stay away and returned to sunny SoCal. She is amazing competent
and one of the few people truly excited about mycorrhiza. Unfortunately, she has finally moved on and as of September 2001, became a conservation scientist with the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Her office in actually in the Gardens, so she can enjoy all the flora and fauna there. She can be reached at: lwarburton@chicagobotanic.org
Eric Focht - Lab Assistant - 2/99 to 12/00