Jenna Messick

Jenna Messick, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Central Oklahoma. She serves as herbarium curator and graduate program advisor, focusing on plant-centric research across taxonomy, ecology, and climate change impacts.

• B.S. in Botany and Anthropology
• M.A. in Biogeography
• Ph.D. in Biogeography

Her research integrates field studies and historical herbarium records to analyze plant responses to environmental changes, including:

• Phenology shifts
• Seed germination dynamics
• Species distribution modeling
• Hybridization genetics
• Spatial ecology

She teaches courses in plant diversity, GIS applications in ecology, plant taxonomy, and biogeography.