Professional Leadership and Service
Professional Societies
Council on Undergraduate Research
- PI and Leadership Team, three consecutive NSF-funded national projects (2006 – present)
- CUR Quarterly Strategic Vision Task Force (2013 – 2015)
- CUR 2012 National Conference, Host Planning Committee, Chair (2010 – 2012)
- Immediate Past-president (2009 – 2010)
- President (2008 – 2009)
- President-elect (2007 – 2008)
- Executive Board (2001 – 2003; 2007 – 2010)
- Biology Division Chair (2001 – 2003)
- Biology Councilor (1997 – 2000, 2000 – 2003)
- Nominations Committee (1997 – 2003; Chair, 1999 – 2003)
- Assessment Committee for Research Institutes (2001 – 2003)
- National Speakers Bureau (1996 – present)
- Coordinator/Facilitator for national workshops/institutes (1997 – present)
- Summer Research Fellowship Review Committee (1998)
- Institutional Liaison at Truman State University (1994 – 1997)
- Associate Editor, American Journal of Botany (2006 – present)
- Publications Committee (2010 – 2016)
- Program Director (1999 – 2002; 2002 – 2005)
- Executive Board (1999 – 2005)
- Editor-in-Chief Search Committee, American Journal of Botany (2008)
- Scientific Inquiry though Plants Steering Committee (2005 – 2010)
- Personnel Committee (2001 – 2005)
- Staff Search Committee (Meetings Manager) (2000 – 2001)
- Karling Graduate Student Research Grant Committee, (1998 – 2000; Chair, 1998 – 1999)
- Maynard F. Moseley Student Award Committee (1996 – 1999; Chair, 1998 – 1999)
- Campus Representative at Truman State University (1995 – 2006)
Paleobotanical Section, Botanical Society of America
- Chairperson (1998 – 1999)
- Secretary-Treasurer (1995 – 1998)
- Michael A. Cichan Award Committee (1997 – 2002; Chair, 1999)
- Isabel Cookson Student Award Committee, Chair (1993)
- Nominations Committee, for Editor of the annual Bibliography (2000)
International Organization of Paleobotany Conference – V
- Financial Aid Committee (1996)
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Kirksville Chapter
- Researcher-of-the-Year Selection Committee (2004)
- President (1997 – 1999)
- President-elect (1995 – 1997)
- Executive Committee (1995 – 2001)
- Community Outreach Committee (1993 – 2002)
- Membership Committee (1993 – 1998)
External Advisory Boards
- State of Oklahoma’s multi-million dollar National Institutes of Health (NIH) IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Program (2002 – present)
- Fulbright Senior Scholar Peer Review Committee (2002 – 2005)
Manuscript Reviews for Scientific Journals / Councils
- American Journal of Botany
- Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club
- CUR Quarterly
- Grana
- International Journal of Plant Sciences
- Journal of Paleontology
- Journal of Plant Research
- Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
- Science Teaching Reconsidered: A Handbook (Committee on Undergraduate Education, National Research Council)
Editorial Boards of Scientific Journals
- American Journal of Botany (Associate Editor, 2006-present)
- World Pollen and Spore Flora (Editorial Advisory Board)
Grant Proposal & External Panel Reviews
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Fulbright Senior Scholar Program – Council for International Exchange of Scholars
- Israel Science Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Petroleum Research Fund – American Chemical Society
- M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust
College & University Leadership and Service
The College of New Jersey
- Steering Committee, Co-Chair (2020 – 2024)
- Committee on Strategic Planning and Priorities, Co-Chair (2020 – 2024)
- Council of Deans (2006 – 2024)
- Campus Emergency Response Team & Emergency Operations Center (2009 – 2024)
- College Promotions and Tenure Committee (2020 – 2024)
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Reaccreditation Steering Committee (2022 – 2024)
- Vice President and Treasurer (CFO) Search Committee, Chair (2022 – 2023)
- Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Search Committee (2019)
- Behavioral Intervention Team (2017 – 2020)
- Dean of the School of Education Search Committee, Chair (2017)
- Signature Experiences Coordinating Council (2017 – 2020)
- Entrepreneurial Enrollment Planning Task Force (2016 – 2017)
- Campus Diversity Council (2016 – 2017)
- Strategic Planning and Resources Committee (2015 – 2016)
- Public Art Selection Committee (2015 – 2016)
- Facilities Master Plan Working Group (2014 – 2015)
- Director of Grants and Sponsored Research Search Committee, Chair (2014 – 2015)
- Vice Provost for Faculty and Strategic Planning Search Committee (2013 – 2014)
- Middle States Reaccreditation Task Force (2013 – 2014)
- Enrollment Management Planning Council (2011 – 2014)
- Major Gifts Officers Search Committee (2013, 2014)
- Compliance Committee (2013 – 2014)
- Strategic Planning Task Force (2011 – 2012)
- Committee on Faculty Affairs (2006 – 2011)
- Dean of the School of the Arts and Communication Search Committee, Chair (2008 – 2009)
- Dean of the School of Engineering Search Committee, Chair (2007 – 2008)
Truman State University
University-Wide
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program, Director & PI (2004 – 2006)
- Strategic Planning Advisory Committee (2005 – 2006)
- Undergraduate Research Committee (1998 – 1999; Chair, 2002 – 2006)
- Student Health Center Advisory Council (2003 – 2006)
- Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (1995 – 2006)
- Search Committee, Ronald E. McNair Program Research Coordinator (2004 – 2005)
- Sabbatical Review Committee (2000 – 2001)
- Who’s Who Among College and University Students Selection Committee (1995)
- Strategic Planning Committee on Faculty Recruitment and Retention (1993)
Science Division
- Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Co-Director (1993 – 2006)
- Student Research Grant Review Committee (1994 – 2006)
- National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Planning Committee (Coordinator of abstract /registration submissions & travel arrangements, 1994 – 1998)
- Strategic Planning Committee on Enhancing Faculty-Student Research (Chair, 1996 – 1998)
- Building Security Committee, Chair (1993 – 1995)
- Equipment Planning Committee (1991 – 1992)
Biology Department
- Faculty advisor, PLANTS -The botany club (2004 – 2006)
- Co-Coordinatori and Co-PI, Truman’s Math-Biology Initiative (2003 – 2006). Mathematical Biology website
- Seminar Committee (1992 – 2003; Chair, 1994 – 1996, 2001 – 2003)
- External Review Committee (Chair, 2001-2002)
- Microscope Advisory Committee, Chair (1993 – 2006)
- Faculty Search Committee (Invertebrate Ecologist) (2000 – 2001)
- Equipment Planning Committee (1995 – 2000, Chair 2003-2006)
- Graduate Student Thesis Committees (6 Students; 1994 – 2006)
- Graduate Committee (1993 -1995; 1996 – 1998)
- Faculty Search Committee (Plant Cell Biologist/Physiologist) (1996 – 1998)
- Public Relations Materials Committee, Chair (1997 – 1998)
- Curriculum Committee (1991 – 1995; Chair, 1994 – 1995)
- Workshop Planning Committee – Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (CoPLAC) Workshop on the Biology Curriculum (1994 – 1995)
- Faculty Search Committee, Chair (Plant Systematist) (1994 – 1995)
- Faculty Search Committee (Population Geneticist) (1994 – 1995)
- Faculty Search Committee (Introductory Biology Coordinator) (1991 – 1992)
- Faculty Search Committee, Chair (Visiting Assistant Professor) (1993)
- Long-Term Course Planning Committee, Chair (1992)
- Alumni Newsletter Committee (1991 – 1992)
Community Leadership and Service
Board of Trustees
Community Outreach Presentations
- Stony Brook Elementary School
- Kirksville High School
- Kirksville Junior High School
- Kirksville Middle School
- Kirksville Optimist Club
- Kirksville Area Association for Life-Long Learning
- Brashear Elementary School
- Gorin Middle School
- Child Development Center, Kirksville
Science Fairs
- Stony Brook Elementary School, Pennington, New Jersey
- Science Fair Judge, Hayes County Consolidated School District, San Marcos, TX