College of Natural Sciences Staff Spotlight: Angela Patino-Acevedo
Posted: October 14, 2024 | Author: Southern Utah University | Read Time: 4 minutes
If you enjoy growing plants, especially native plants, then you definitely need to get to know Angela Patino-Acevedo. Arriving at SUU in the fall of 2014, when her husband Dr. Matt Ogburn joined the biology faculty, Angela, herself a scientist, also joined the department as a technician and manager of the SUU greenhouse. Her influence is felt widely across campus and throughout the region.
Angela hails from Colombia and it was in her home country that her affinity for plants developed. As an undergraduate at the Universidad de Antioquia, Angela first worked with an elusive bird species - the Blue Billed Curassow. However, after beginning graduate work, she switched her emphasis to plant taxonomy and subsequently became a world authority on the genus Peperomia in the black pepper family. Her taxonomic work, funded by a multitude of grants and fellowships eventually brought her to the United States where she landed a position as a researcher at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It is here where she and Matt first met.
Moving to rural southern Utah was a big change for Angela and her family who had been living in urban areas of the northeast US. Nervous about finding community in Cedar City, they wasted no time seeking opportunities to be involved. Part of Angela’s involvement quickly centered around other plant-related endeavors on campus and in the community, particularly projects related to native plants and their importance to native ecosystems.
Shortly after joining the SUU staff, Angela joined the SUU Tree Board, sought and was awarded a Utah Community Forestry Partnership Grant, and dove into work in the James E. Browns Native Plant Center on the west end of campus. Projects there included adding 178 new individual plants representing 73 new species from the three ecoregions surrounding the Cedar City area, spreading 29,000 square feet of mulch to help with weed prevention and water retention, adding 2,300 feet of irrigation tubing to efficiently provide water for all the plants in the garden, sculpting berms to efficiently direct rainwater to plants, and developing informational placards for each species at the garden which allows QR code access to a comprehensive educational website. This work was facilitated by a cadre of dedicated volunteers overseen by Angela and the SUU grounds team.
More recently, Angela became part of a Utah pollinator habitat program. Funded by a House Bill that tasked the Utah Department of Agriculture with the creation of a program to improve pollinator habitats throughout Utah, a dedicated team of SUU faculty, staff, and students from the Biology department, the Frehner Museum of Natural History, and the SUU STEM Center have been working together to promote native plants and pollinator health throughout southern Utah. The existing Native Plant Center has since become an important seed source for the propagation of even more native plants. These plants are now being distributed to the local community so that southern Utah residents can include more native plants in their home landscapes. Additionally, these seedlings are being used for the creation of a second native plant garden adjacent to the SUU Science Center and in proximity to the Frehner Museum of Natural History. This location will be even more accessible as an educational resource related to native plants and pollinators.
Clearly, Angela’s reach in promoting sustainable landscaping practices and the value of home landscapes in supporting Utah’s pollinator diversity is extensive. And, she has no plans on slowing down. The existing pollinator education program has additional facets still being developed and there is a possibility that the program will be extended. If not, Angela will undoubtedly find other avenues for sharing her passion and expertise with others, both on and off the SUU campus.
Angela loves working at SUU and recently commented, “My favorite thing about working at SUU is that it has become a place I can call home. I didn’t think that could happen coming from such a different culture, but it has been very easy to find ‘my people’ and be happy to see them every single day.” Outside of work, Angela, her husband Matt and sons (ages 12 and 10) enjoy anything outdoors. They hike, climb, bike, ski, and raft local rivers.
We are grateful to Angela, and for her passion for plants, people, and SUU.
Tags: College of Natural Sciences Career and Professional Development FacStaff Biology
