Plant biologist builds bridge between academics, service

Zomlefer, the curator of UGA's Herbarium and an associate professor of plant biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, got to work hand-in-hand with the State Botanical Garden last fall through a Public Service and Outreach Faculty fellowship. She led a number of projects, from public lectures and a two-day workshop on herbarium techniques to demonstrations for children and organization of the garden's own herbarium collection.

Sometimes - often - we can get caught up in the atmospherics of working in higher education (disclaimer: many atmospherics are very important and people are right to engage in them) and forget how fortunate we are to get to build careers in this environment. Students. Knowledge, Discovery. Service to the public. And within these, all of the multi-faceted dimensions of individual disciplines and pursuits. Congratulations to Zomlefer for the successful integration of public interest and scholarly activity.

Image: Wendy Zomlefer, Photo by Shannah Montgomery