Elizabeth Makings

Elizabeth Makings is a Researcher and Collections Manager at the Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium within the School of Life Sciences. She oversees a collection of over 340,000 plant specimens and manages global loan/exchange programs. Her roles include teaching Arizona Flora, Grasses of Arizona, and Sonoran Desert Field Botany, while mentoring over 30 graduate and undergraduate students. She is an administrator for the Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet), contributing to digital data management.

Education:

• MS in Plant Biology, Arizona State University (2003)
• B.A. in Environmental, Population, and Organismal Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder (1988)

Research Interests: Focus on plant diversity, distribution, and evolutionary history, applied to conservation and outreach. Specializes in desert flora and cienega ecosystems. Active in floristic inventories (e.g., San Pedro Riparian NCA) and taxonomic documentation.

Recent Publications Trends: Her work emphasizes endangered species conservation (e.g., Eryngium sparganophyllum), floristic inventories in arid regions, and plant-insect interactions. Collaborations highlight interdisciplinary approaches to desert ecology and urban river restoration.

Service & Outreach:

• Lead over 20 outreach initiatives (e.g., K-12 plant workshops, natural history field trips)
• Cofounder of the JEDI Biocollections Scholars Program for underrepresented students
• Consultant for law enforcement plant identification and botanical legal cases

Advising & Grants: Supervised 20+ graduate theses/dissertations (e.g., Luke Ramsey’s work on Salt River wetlands). Secured grants for fieldwork, herbarium digitization, and conservation projects (e.g., SEINet maintenance).

Labs/Teams: Directs ASU Herbarium operations and collaborates with the Natural History Institute on field expeditions. Active in the Society of Herbarium Curators and Arizona Native Plant Society.