Danny J. Gustafson,^1,*,** Karen Harris-Shultz,^2,*** Parker E. Gustafson,^1,**** Lisa M. Giencke,³ R. Carol Denhof,^4,***** L. Katherine Kirkman<sup>3,******

1</sup>1Department of Biology The Citadel Charleston, SC 29409
²2USDA-ARS Crop Genetics and Breeding Research Unit 115 Coastal Way Tifton, GA 31793
³3Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center Newton, GA 39870
⁴4The Longleaf Alliance Andalusia, AL 36420

^*Corresponding author: danny.gustafson@citadel.edu; (843) 953-7876
^**Danny Gustafson is a Professor of Plant Molecular Ecology in the Biology Department at The Citadel, where he teaches and maintains an active undergraduate research program. He is a Certified Senior Ecologist (Ecological Society of America), and his research interests include restoration and conservation genetics, grassland and tropical ecology, and endangered species biology.
^***Karen Harris-Shultz is a Research Geneticist for the USDA-ARS Crop Genetics and Breeding Research Unit in Tifton, Georgia. She is a molecular biologist with a research interest in identifying areas of the genomes of grasses that are associated with traits of economic interest. She also has an interest in insects.
^****Parker E. Gustafson is undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina, where he studies Mechanical Engineering. He has participated in ex situ propagation and reintroduction of the endangered Lindera melissifolia and Schwalbea americana, as well as this restoration genetic research.
^*****Carol Denhof is the Understory Coordinator for The Longleaf Alliance, where she is responsible for activities ranging from facilitation of longleaf ecosystem restoration to implementation and coordination of outreach and education efforts of The Longleaf Alliance. Her research interests include restoration applications for use in longleaf pine ecosystems.
^******L. Katherine Kirkman retired in 2017 following a 25-year career as a Plant Ecologist at the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway where she conducted basic and applied research in longleaf pine uplands and embedded wetlands. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Georgia, Auburn University, and the University of Florida, where she co-advised graduate students conducting research at Ichauway.