Dana Thomas

President  and  Co-FOUNDER

Dana Thomas earned a Master of Science degree in Botany, with a certificate in Ecology, from Miami University and her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Missouri State University. She has over 20 years of botanical and ecological field, lab, teaching, and administrative experience. Since 2004, she has served as the Executive Director of the Institute of Botanical Training and prior to that position performed botanical and ecological field work for The Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, Missouri Department of Conservation and University of Missouri. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering for the Missouri Native Plant Society and various other organizations.

Justin Thomas

Science Director  and  Co-FOUNDER

Justin conducts taxonomic and ecological research and instructs plant identification workshops. He has over twenty years of professional field experience, a Master of Science degree in Botany from Miami University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is the junior author of the "Ecological Checklist of the Missouri Flora", holds a research associateship at Missouri Botanical Garden and serves as a scientific advisor to several conservation groups.  

Research Associates

Doug Ladd

Brett Budach

Claire Ciafre

Board of Directors

Dana Thomas, Chair

Andrew Braun, Co-Chair

Scott Namestnik, Secretary

Rick Gray, Treasurer

Justin Thomas, Science Director

John Oliver, Director

Linda Williams, Director