Hello! I’m a Ph.D. student in the Rothfels lab at Utah State University as of Fall 2022.
I am broadly interested in patterns of plant evolution and think the independent life stages and high rates of polyploidy make ferns a pretty neat system. I’ve started my research in the lab looking at the phylogeny of the Athyriid ferns.
I am also interested in science education, both in the classroom and outside it. I’m excited to get involved with the Intermountain Herbarium foray program and other opportunities to engage with the public on the diversity of life around us.
The forests and mountains of New England are the ecosystems I grew up in and are where I developed a love of nature. I’m enjoying getting to know the environment here in Utah, and spend a lot of time hiking, botanizing, and birding; I also cook and social dance.
julia(dot)hobbie(at)usu(dot)edu