Dr. Julia Perzley is a plant ecologist interested in urban systems and public science education. Currently she is teaching Concepts in Biology, a large introductory biology course at Rutgers Newark. Julia completed her PhD in the Holzapfel lab in 2018. Her dissertation examined legacy effects of intensive land use by comparing early successional plant communities at post-industrial brownfields and post-agricultural old fields. Before attending Rutgers, Julia received a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. Julia taught many course sections as a teaching assistant during graduate school at Rutgers New Brunswick including labs for Plant Ecology, Plant Systematics, Evolution, and a biology for non-majors course. For the past two years she has volunteered as a course instructor teaching biology in New Jersey state prisons. Julia has been involved in a variety of restoration and conservation projects performing vegetation surveys and ecological site assessments as well as public outreach events including an annual campus bioblitz.
Awards & Distinctions
- Rutgers University Hutchenson Memorial Forest Summer Research Grant
- Rutgers University Excellence Fellowship