Shasta Chapter CNPS is pleased to announce that this year’s Chapter-sponsored Northern California Botanists (NCB) Barbara Castro Memorial Student Botany Research Scholarship went to Philippa Stone, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia, who is working under the supervision of of Dr. Sean Graham.
Northern California Botanists provides a scholarship program for undergraduate and graduate students conducting research on botanical topics in northern California. Each year, Shasta Chapter CNPS provides funding to Northern California Botanists for an additional $1000 Research Scholarship. In addition to NCB’s general scholarship criteria, the recipient of the Shasta Chapter-funded scholarship must meet at least one of the following two criteria: (1) the student’s research topic is relevant to the flora within the boundaries of the Shasta Chapter; or (2) the student hails from the Shasta Chapter CNPS area.
Philippa’s project meets the first criterion; she is working on the systematics of western false asphodel (Triantha occidentalis; Tofieldiaceae) in northern California, and is particularly interested in populations recorded in Shasta and Siskiyou counties. As Philippa explains,
I am a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, studying the genomics of Triantha occidentalis (western false asphodel). This species was recently discovered to be carnivorous, and it has sticky hairs below the inflorescence to trap insects. I am sequencing the genome to see if the pathway to carnivory is similar to that of other carnivorous plants. I am also interested in the taxonomy of this species. The current treatment states that there are three subspecies of T. occidentalis, but initial genetic data from chloroplasts suggests that there may be an additional subspecies native to northern California.
I am very grateful to have received this award, as my project has no funding attached for fieldwork. This money will allow me to collect additional specimens of T. occidentalis in order to determine accurate geographic ranges for the different genetic groupings of the genus.
Photo taken July 11, 2023, in the Trinity Alps, by Philippa Stone.
In addition, Philippa has a very special request: she asks our members to keep an eye out for and make a note of any Triantha sightings. She is particularly interested in any found between Mount Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Park, but any sighting in Shasta and Siskiyou counties could be of use. If you will send the location of any Triantha sightings to our Chapter address at shastacnps@gmail.com, we will be sure that Philippa gets the information.
The Shasta Chapter CNPS wishes Philippa all the best in her future botanical endeavors. With any luck, we’ll get her to give us a presentation on her work someday in the not-too-far future! ~Shasta Chapter CNPS