Neil Snow

BIOL 212 Principles of Biology II
BIOL 402 Plants and People
BIOL 529 Evolution
BIOL 538 Wetland Plants
BIOL 548 Taxonomy of Vascular Plants
BIOL 636 Invasive Species Management
BIOL 642 Grass Taxonomy

Advising

• Botany
• Field biology 
• Ecology

Research Interests

I am a plant systematist with broad interests in plant biodiversity. Our global knowledge of plant biodiversity remains woefully incomplete. This reality is exemplified by the discovery by botanists each year of about 2000 new species worldwide. My professional interests have focused primarily in four areas.

The first includes study of the Myrtle family (Myrtaceae). This relatively large family is unstudied amongst comparably-sized families, with at least a dozen new species discovered annually across many parts of the world. Current collaborative efforts include studies in New Caledonia and Madagascar. I have described, typically with coauthors, four new genera and approximately 120 new taxa in the family (e.g., https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/adansonia2020v42a7.pdf, http://phys.org/news/2015-05-bucketful-eugenia-species-madagascar.html). 

The second is the Grass Family (Poaceae). Current work with Drs. Paul Peterson and Konstantin Romaschenko (Smithsonian Institution) includes taxonomic revisions of genera formerly included in Leptochloa, including a recent revision of Diplachne (https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=21079) and Leptochloa sensu stricto.

The third emphasis has been floristic (=plant) inventories. Recent work included surveying in Cherokee and Crawford counties by Samantha Young Pryer and bottomland areas near Miami, OK (https://www.phytoneuron.net/2017Phytoneuron/26PhytoN-NeoshoFlora.pdf). Our fieldwork is yielding higher-than-anticipated state and county records. New graduate student projects include taxonomic and ecological studies in Idaho and Missouri.

The fourth dimension includes duties as Curator of the Theodore M. Sperry Herbarium, an important regional collection of vascular plants and bryophytes. All vascular plants follow APGIV classifications, with data available through the Northern Great Plains Herbarium Consortium data portal (http://ngpherbaria.org/portal/index.php). The herbarium is occupying newly refurbished space in 2020 with new cabinets with support from the National Science Foundation. 

Many opportunities exist for highly motivated and self-driven students in these areas.