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Staff

Jon Rebman, Ph.D., Curator of Botany

Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D. has been the Mary and Dallas Clark Endowed Chair/Curator of Botany at the Museum since 1996. He has a Ph.D. in Botany (plant taxonomy), M.S. in Biology (floristics), and B.S. in Biology. Dr. Rebman is a plant taxonomist and conducts extensive floristic research in Baja California and in San Diego and Imperial Counties. He has over 15 years of experience in the floristics of San Diego and Imperial Counties and 21 years experience studying the plants of the Baja California peninsula. For Jon's complete biography, click here . Jon can be reached at 619.255.0247 or by using our contact form under "Research".


Layla Aerne Hains, Collections Manager

Layla Aerne Hains has a M.S. in Plant Systematics from San Diego State University and more than seven years of experience with the flora of San Diego County. She started as a graduate student intern in the department working on the Plant Atlas project. Currently, her duties in the herbarium include general curation, managing loans and processing incoming specimens. Layla also manages contract/fieldwork including rare plant surveys, floristic studies and biological monitoring. Layla can be reached at 619.255.0229 or by using our contact form under "Research".

Jeannie Gregory, Parabotanist Manager / General Botany Staff

Jeannie Gregory began work as a volunteer in the Botany Department in April 2003 with general herbarium and field work. Already very familiar with San Diego County and its flora, she was able to help organize the record-keeping, recruitment and training of the volunteers for the Plant Atlas Project. As Parabotanist Manager, she is responsible for all of the incoming parabotanist collections from data and locality verification, to labeling and preparing the specimens for expert identification and finally by entering the corrections in the Plant Atlas database.

John Sanborn, Database/Web Support Specialist

John developed and manages the Botany databases and its two websites, Plant Alas and Baja Flora. A retired mechanical engineer, John started working for the museum in 2000 as a collections assistant. He then developed the database and check-out system for the Loan Library, after which he was recruited to the Botany department at the initiation of the Plant Atlas project in April, 2003. The databases and web tools are foundational elements in the department’s management of the collection and implementation of Plant Atlas and Baja projects.

Judy Gibson, Volunteer

Judy Gibson has managed the collections of the Botany Department for over 20 years. She has a B.A. from SDSU and over 25 years experience with the flora of San Diego County, which includes the curation and management of voucher specimens, fieldwork, technical writing, and education through teaching botany classes, leading field trips and giving tours of the collection.

Research Associates

Dr. José Delgadillo Rodriguez (Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California)

Dr. José Luis León de la Luz (Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste)

Dr. Michael S. Mayer (University of San Diego)

Dr. Michael G. Simpson (Department of Biology, San Diego State University)

Dr. Peter Vroom (Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center)

Department Associates

Dr. Ken Bowles

Mary Alice Kessler

Margie Mulligan

Jim Rocks

Field Associates

Larry Hendrickson

Victoria Marshall


Volunteers 

Volunteers are an integral part of the Botany department. The Botany department has a large and diverse group of volunteers who we rely on in the field and in the herbarium. Volunteers are responsible for mounting plant specimens, databasing, filing, field work and numerous special projects depending on skill level and background.

At this time, the department is not accepting new volunteers. 

Specialized Volunteer projects include:

  • Bryophyte collection and identification: Victoria Marshall has begun the organization of historic collection of bryophytes, collection of new specimens, and working with experts to determine the identifications.
  • Ferns and Fern Allies of San Diego County : Longtime department volunteer, Annette Winner, is nearly done working on a book of the Ferns in San Diego County.
  • Scans for Algae Synoptic Collection: Dr. Peter Vroom has been working hard on curating our Algae collection including organizing, identifying and databasing. Mary Ellen Walther is focused on scanning specimen sheets to be used in the online synoptic collection.