Theodore S. Cochrane, Senior Academic Curator in the Department of Botany, spent three weeks in Colombia this summer.
Cochrane's work is part of a long-term research project that aims to publish a taxonomic revision of the vascular plant genus Podandrogyne, of the family Cleomaceae, which ranges along the main cordilleras from Guatemala to Bolivia.
Cochrane worked in the National Herbarium of Colombia in Bogotá and in three herbaria in Medellín: the University of Antioquia, the National University of Colombia-Medellín Center, and the Joaquín Antonio Uribe Botanical Garden.
While abroad, Cochrane checked the identity of as many museum specimens as possible and accumulated data sets to incorporate into formal botanical descriptions.
He also spent two days doing a limited amount of field work in remnant patches of cloud forest and ravines with local Colombian botanists and graduate students.
The trip and project is helping establish good relations with Colombian botanists with an eye toward future specimen exchanges and research collaborations. The experience will also improve Cochrane's ability to advise graduate students contemplating research in tropical settings.