FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maggie Downs
[email protected]
New researcher joins the Center for Conservation Biology at UCR Palm Desert
PALM DESERT -- Dr. Lynn Sweet has joined the team at the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of California, Riverside Palm Desert Center.
Sweet is a plant ecologist, whose research focuses on the establishment of plants in heterogeneous landscapes, primarily the
establishment of invasive plants into new landscapes.
“In general, I will be continuing my work looking at native and invasive plant species distributions in the Coachella Valley and
beyond,” Sweet says. “I am really interested in finding out which invasive non-native plants, such as fountain grass, threaten local
habitats, and if so, what ways may these plants impact our local ecosystems.”
Until recently, Sweet was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Here she will be continuing her
work looking at native and invasive plant species distributions in the Coachella Valley and beyond.
"To address the complex issues that conservation biology aims to tackle, we need a regular infusion of new, smart ideas," says
Cameron Barrows, an associate researcher in the center. "Lynn Sweet comes to us having recently earned a PhD from UCR, and just
completed post-doctoral research at UC Santa Barbara. Brains and ideas -- we are excited to have Lynn join our team."
As a child, Sweet was interested in what makes plants “tick,” was a voracious reader about the natural world, and could often be
found outdoors. It’s this passion that continues to drive her work today.
“Even now, the more I learn about native species and their habitats, the more questions I have about ‘why and how,’” she says. “In
college and my early professional career, I became concerned that certain plants and animals were not going to exist in the future
without specific plans to protect them. My work is now across several disciplines; I have focused not only on plant ecology but also
several other fields, biogeography and invasion biology, in order to answer questions about why plants occur where they do, and
where they may occur in the future.”
UCR's Center for Conservation Biology aims to proactively identify new research priorities in conservation biology, develop research
programs in response to existing needs in conservation biology, and assist in the conservation of species and ecosystems by facilitating the collection, evaluation, and dissemination of scientific information.
For more information, visit http://ccb.ucr.edu
UCR Palm Desert Campus • 75080 Frank Sinatra Drive • Palm Desert, CA. 92211 • 760.834.0800 • palmdesert.ucr.edu