We help students build their science communication skills by providing opportunities to share their work with a wide variety of audiences. This includes:
- Informally sharing their research with interns at partner institutions as well as staff and students in other Chicago Botanic Garden programs
- Presenting their research at a public symposium at the Garden
- Creating and screening a video of their research, later posted on the Garden's YouTube channel
- Working with mentors after their internship to write and publish the results of their research in a wide range of publications.
Poster Symposium Abstracts
The summer research internship culminates in a public symposium at the Chicago Botanic Garden where students present their work. Posters and presentations are judged by three distinguished judges and students receive awards for best poster, best presentation, and best overall.
Check out abstracts from previous research symposia to learn more about the impactful work of prior interns:
Symposium 2024
Symposium 2023
Symposium 2022
Symposium 2021
Symposium 2019
Symposium 2018
Symposium 2017
Symposium 2016
Symposium 2015
Symposium 2014
Symposium 2013
Videos
Videos are an excellent way to share and explain complex concepts to a wider audience. Students are taught and encouraged to create a video related to the themes of their internship project. This is another way we support various types of science communication.
Check out videos on the Garden's YouTube page:
Publications
Publishing research results is an important part of the scientific process and numerous students have worked with their mentors following the official completion of their internship to publish papers. Selected papers include:
Diaz-Martin, Z., A. Cisternas-Fuentes, K.M. Kay, R.A. Raguso, K. Skogen and J. Fant. 2023. Reproductive strategies and their consequences for divergence, gene flow, and genetic diversity in three taxa of Clarkia. Heredity 131(5-6):338-349.
Ernst, A. R., R.S. Barak, M.C. Glasenhardt, A.T. Kramer, D.J. Larkin, H.E. Marx, and A.L. Hipp. 2023. Dominant species establishment may influence invasion resistance more than phylogenetic or functional diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology 60(12):2652-2664.
Overson, R. P., M.G. Johnson, L.L. Bechen*, S.P. Kinosian, N.A. Douglas, J.B. Fant, and N.J. Wickett. 2023. A phylogeny of the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) using a target enrichment approach with 303 nuclear loci. BMC Ecology and Evolution 23(1):66.
Wenzell, K. E., K.A. Skogen, and J.B. Fant. 2023. Range‐wide floral trait variation reflects shifts in pollinator assemblages, consistent with pollinator‐mediated divergence despite generalized visitation. Oikos 2023(6):e09708.
Woolridge, C. B., J.B. Fant, A.I. Flores, K. Schultz, and A.T. Kramer. 2023. Variation in overall fitness due to seed source: projections for predictive provenancing. Restoration Ecology 31(1):e13717.
Bechen, L. L.*, M.G. Johnson, G.T. Broadhead, R.A. Levin, R.P. Overson, T. Jogesh, and N.J. Wickett. 2022. Differential gene expression associated with a floral scent polymorphism in the evening primrose Oenothera harringtonii (Onagraceae). BMC Genomics 23(1):124.
Chamberlain, L. A., T. Aguayo*, N.J. Zerega, R. Dybzinski, and L.M. Egerton-Warburton. 2022. Rapid improvement in soil health following the conversion of abandoned farm fields to annual or perennial agroecosystems. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 6:1010298.
Kilgore, S., K. Havens, A. Kramer, A. Lythgoe*, L. MacKechnie, and M. De Vitis. 2022. Seed collection, storage, and germination practices may affect Viola reintroduction outcomes. Native Plants Journal 23(1):40-55.
Kucera, K. F., J.B. Fant, S. Jensen, M. Landeen, E. Orr*, and A.T. Kramer. 2022. Genetic variation and structure change when producing and using mixed‐source seed lots for restoration. Restoration Ecology 30(3):e13521.
Lamb, N., K. Havens, J. Holloway*, J.F. Steffen, J. Zeldin, and A.T. Kramer. 2022. Low passive restoration potential following invasive woody species removal in oak woodlands. Restoration Ecology 30(4):e13568.
Patsis, A.*, R.P. Overson, K.A. Skogen, N.J. Wickett, M.G. Johnson, W.L. Wagner, and R.A. Levin. 2021. Elucidating the evolutionary history of Oenothera sect. Pachylophus (Onagraceae): a phylogenomic approach. Systematic Botany 46(3):799-811.
Wenzell, K. E., A.J. McDonnell, N.J. Wickett, J.B. Fant, and K.A. Skogen. 2021. Incomplete reproductive isolation and low genetic differentiation despite floral divergence across varying geographic scales in Castilleja. American Journal of Botany 108(7):1270-1288.
Williams, E.W., J. Zeldin, W.R. Semski*, A.L. Hipp, and D.J. Larkin. 2021. Phylogenetic distance and resource availability mediate direction and strength of plant interactions in a competition experiment. Oecologia 197(2):459-469.
Gijsman, F.*, K. Havens, and P. Vitt. 2020. Effect of capitulum position and weevil infestation on seed production of threatened monocarpic perennial, Cirsium pitcheri. Global Ecology and Conservation 22:e00945.
Bandara, R. G., J. Finch, J.L. Walck, S.N. Hidayati, and K. Havens. 2019. Germination niche breadth and potential response to climate change differ among three North American perennials. Folia Geobotanica 54:5-17.
Finch, J., J.L. Walck, S.N. Hidayati, A.T. Kramer, V. Lason*, and K. Havens. 2019. Germination niche breadth varies inconsistently among three Asclepias congeners along a latitudinal gradient. Plant Biology 21(3):425-438.
Barak, R., T. Lichtenberger*, A. Wellman-Houde*, A. T. Kramer, and D. J. Larkin. 2018. Cracking the case: Seed traits and phylogeny predict time to germination in prairie restoration species. Ecology and Evolution 00:1-12.
Kildisheva, O. A., T. E. Erickson, D. J. Merritt, M. D. Madsen, K. W. Dixon, J. Vargas**, R. Amarteifio*, and A. T. Kramer. 2018. Do Abrasion- or Temperature-Based Techniques More Effectively Relieve Physical Dormancy in Seeds of Cold Desert Perennials? Rangeland Ecology & Management 71:318-322.
Williams, E. W., R.S. Barak, M. Kramer, A.L. Hipp, and D.J. Larkin. 2018. In tallgrass prairie restorations, relatedness influences neighborhood-scale plant invasion while resource availability influences site-scale invasion. Basic and Applied Ecology 33:37-48.
Barak, R. S., E.W. Williams, A.L. Hipp, M.L. Bowles, G.M. Carr*, R. Sherman*, and D.J. Larkin. 2017. Restored tallgrass prairies have reduced phylogenetic diversity compared with remnants. Journal of Applied Ecology 54(4):1080-1090.
Tonietto, Rebecca K., J.S. Ascher, and D.J. Larkin. 2017. Bee communities along a prairie restoration chronosequence: similar abundance and diversity, distinct composition. Ecological Applications 27.3:705-717.
Williams, E.W., E.M. Gardner, R. Harris III*, A. Chaveerach, J.T. Pereira, and N.J.C. Zerega. 2017. Out of Borneo: Biogeography, phylogeny, and divergence date estimates of Artocarpus (Moraceae). Annals of Botany 119:611-627.
Hintz, L.*, A. Foxx, M. Eshleman, and A. T. Kramer. 2016. Population differentiation in early life history traits of Cleome lutea var. lutea in the Intermountain West. Western North American Naturalist 76(1): 6-17.
Skogen, K.A., T. Jogesh, E.T. Hilpman, S.L. Todd, M.K. Rhodes, S.M. Still, and J.B. Fant. 2016. Land‐use change has no detectable effect on reproduction of a disturbance‐adapted, hawkmoth‐pollinated plant species. American Journal of Botany 103(11):1950-1963.
Yost, J. L.*, L.M. Egerton-Warburton, K.M. Schreiner, C.E. Palmer, and A.E. Hartemink. 2016. Impact of restoration and management on aggregation and organic carbon accumulation in urban grasslands. Soil Science Society of America Journal 80(4):992-1002.
Gardner, E. M., K. M. Laricchia, M. Murphy*, D. Ragone, B. E. Scheffler, S. Simpson, E. W. Williams, and N. J. C. Zerega. 2015. Chloroplast Microsatellite Markers for Artocarpus (Moraceae) Developed from Transcriptome Sequences. Applications in Plant Sciences 3:1500049.
Riebkes*, J.L., R.S. Barak and A.T. Kramer. 2015. Evaluating seed viability in prairie forbs: a test of three methods. Native Plants Journal. 16:96-106.
Larkin, D.J., J.F. Steffen, R.M. Gentile* (Hesselink), and C.R. Zirbel*. 2014. Ecosystem changes following restoration of a buckthorn-invaded woodland. Restoration Ecology 22:89–97.
Rhodes, M. K., J.B. Fant, and K.A. Skogen. 2014. Local topography shapes fine-scale spatial genetic structure in the Arkansas Valley evening primrose, Oenothera harringtonii (Onagraceae). Journal of Heredity 105(6):900-909.
Witherup, C., D. Ragone, T. Wiesner-Hanks*, B. Irish, B. Scheffler, S. Simpson, F. Zee, M. I. Zuberi, and N.J.C. Zerega. 2013. Development of microsatellite loci in Artocarpus altilis (Moraceae) and cross-amplification in congeneric species. Applications in Plant Science 1:1200423.