Staff Directory
Heather Dawson
Administrative Assistant
Heather grew up in a small town in Illinois and moved to Lafayette about 8 years ago. Upon graduation from high school, she attended Saint Joseph’s college in Rensselaer. Her background is in a variety of office settings. A few of her favorite things about working in an office is getting to showcase her organizational skills, being creative, and helping professionals deal with day-to-day operations so they can focus on their passions. Heather will be in charge of maintaining the website, providing faculty, staff and students with any administrative work, and other various tasks.
Aziz Ebrahimi
Post Doc Research Associate
Aziz is a PhD Research Associate at Purdue University, studying whole genome and genes related to cold tolerance in walnut and koa. Aziz’s interest is in landscape genetics, phylogeny and evolution of tree species, and he has utilized genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics tools to address questions in that area of research.
Lenny Farlee
Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
Lenny is an extension forester with the HTIRC. He provides programs and publications in a variety of media directed toward improving the regeneration and sustainable management of high-quality hardwood trees and forests in the Central Hardwood Region.
Elizabeth ("Liz") Jackson
Manager Walnut Council/IFWOA and Engagement Specialist for HTIRC
Liz is the Engagement Specialist for HTIRC, Executive Director of the Indiana Forestry & Woodland Owners Association, and the Executive Director of the National Walnut Council.
Indira Paudel
Post Doc Research Associate
Dr. Paudel is working on the sensitivity of carbon-hydraulic traits of hardwood forest to drought and warming events.
Caleb Redick
Research Associate
Caleb is a Research Associate on staff currently researching forest regeneration on reclaimed mines as well as oak enrichment plantings. Caleb’s interest is in restoration ecology and his past research has addressed deer herbivory, invasive species, and reclamation of oil well pads.
Andrei Toca
Post Doc Research Associate
Acclimating commercial tree seedling root system architecture to drought.
James ("Jim") Warren
USDA Forest Service, Biological Scientist/Operational Tree Breeder
jcwarren@purdue.edu Prior to coming to the HTIRC, Jim assisted in running the daily operations of the Minnesota Tree Improvement Cooperative at the University of Minnesota’s Cloquet Forestry Center for 17 years. His primary duties entailed designing, implementing, and measuring field trials, assisting with orchard management, conducting tree breeding and grafting, and collecting data.
Katie Grong
Research Associate
Katie is a Research Associate in the Forestry and Natural Resources department working to create a directory of historical genetic tree improvement trials to be available to the public. She obtained her MS in Geography and Geology from Missouri State University.