Meet the Scientist

Name: Gayle Tonkovich
Position/Title: Research Assistant, vPlants Project Coordinator
Department: Botany (& ECP)

1. What do you study related to biodiversity (what are your research questions, what organisms do you work on)?

I study vascular plant species that occur in rare or threatened habitats. My work has focused on monitoring species of concern (i.e. rare, threatened, or endangered) and making management suggestions that encourage protection for particular populations and plant communities. This has included conducting surveys to find specific plant species as well as surveying particular habitats (usually wetlands) that could be considered threatened.

2. How do you study biodiversity (for example, what technological tools and methodologies do you use in your research)?

In general, I go to specific areas and survey the plant species that exist in that community or habitat. For monitoring particular species of concern, I record information about any individuals found as well as aspects of the population. That almost always involves marking and mapping the location of the populations and / or individuals on topographic maps, aerial photos or using GPS.

Depending on the species, I may perform tasks such as counting individuals; estimating percent cover; measuring the spatial cover of a population; setting transects and plots to do quantitative measurements; or collecting parts of individuals for further study (e.g. fruit or seed to check reproductive viability).

I also usually make descriptive observations of the surrounding habitat conditions, for example, noting whether the area has any impending threats such as encroaching human disturbance, influx of aggressive alien plant species, predation by herbivores, etc. This usually provides a qualitative idea of the general stability of a particular population, community or a certain habitat.

When I work in specific wetlands, I do a census of the plant species in that area. I record information regarding threats, overall health and stability, and the comparative abundance of each species seen at a particular site.

3. Where do you study biodiversity?

My work has focused mostly in the Great Lakes area and specifically, over the past 5 years, at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore located in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, Indiana.

4. How might your research have implications for biological conservation?

My research should have direct influence on how areas in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore are managed. More specifically, my data provide valuable information for conserving natural resources in the Park in accordance with the mandates of the National Park Service. Normally, I make suggestions regarding ways to best control invasive species and decrease disturbance - the two main threats to threatened species and habitats. Ideally, management techniques are instituted which protect special concern plant species and important habitats that I have surveyed, but sadly that is not always the case due to tight funding at the Park.

5. How did you become interested in science? What made you want to be a scientist, and how did you get to The Field Museum?

It was not until high school that I started to consider a future in science. I found many aspects of Biology fascinating. Originally, I wanted to be a cell or molecular biologist. However, in my first year at the University of Illinois, I was introduced to professors who do research in botany and I was intrigued by the questions they ask and try to solve.

My first botany course was Plant Systematics, which was taught by two outstanding professors who were exciting and inspirational. I was lucky enough to work in the lab of one of my professors and assist with molecular research- focusing on the evolutionary relationships of particular plant families (cutting edge at that time).

For my undergraduate thesis I performed a survey of the vascular plants at a Nature Conservancy preserve in west central Indiana. I collected and identified hundreds of plants over the course of that work and prepared herbarium specimens of my collections. I published the results from that work once I graduated.

Unfortunately, there are not many jobs in the real world for botanists. The only job I was able to find was as a molecular biologist in a lab at the University of Chicago. It was good I had the experience of that summer working in the lab at college. After a couple years, I entered the Botany graduate program at the University of Michigan and earned a M.S. However, again with permanent, decent paying jobs being scarce for botanists, I returned to the molecular biology lab at the University of Chicago.

During those years, I volunteered at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in order to keep my botanical skills on par. Amazingly, a position at the Field Museum was posted in late 2000 that required someone with identification skills and knowledge of the Chicago Area flora. I was thrilled to be offered that position and I have been the Museum's Project Coordinator for vPlants, the Virtual Herbarium of the Chicago Region <http://www.vplants.org>, for the last 2.5 years.

6. Describe important collaborations for your scientific endeavors (describe your work with other researchers, organizations, or scientific groups, local or indigenous peoples, etc.)

My most recent collaborations have been with the Resource Management team at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (National Park Service) and Ecologists at the Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station (United States Geological Survey).

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