EDUCATION
University of Oregon. Eugene, O.R.
PhD Biology. 2014.
Dissertation: Pollination biology of the mushroom-mimicking orchid genus Dracula.
Committee: Bitty Roy, Rob Raguso, Matt Streisfeld, Frances White and Brendan Bohannan.
MSc Biology. 2011. Fungi, plants and pollinators: sex, disease, and deception.
BSc. (Hons.) Biology; Minor in Biochemistry. 2007.
Thesis Title: ‘Herbivores, Pathogens, and the Enemy Release Hypothesis: A Focus on Plant Communities Invaded by False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum)’
ADDITIONAL TRAINING AND CERTIFICATES
RescueTraining Inc. Eugene, OR.
Wilderness First Responder Training. September 2010.
Intensive
11 day (90 hr) training. The WFR is intended for situations where emergency medical services
and facilities, are hours, days or even weeks away. Hands on, scenario-based training
promotes proper judgment and decision making skills for long term or extended care, as
well as evaluating the need for appropriate evacuation. Includes CPR certificate.
Permaculture Teachers Training. 6/5-11/08
This dynamic and interactive week-long course covers diverse teaching techniques to communicate permaculture principles and strategies in a wide variety of settings, incorporating essential hands-on practice preparing and co-teaching several presentations.
Advanced Permaculture and Keyline Water Management Course (10 days). 8/01
Permaculture Design Course (72 hrs); Certified Permaculture Design Consultant. 3-5/01
Columbines School of Botanical Studies. Eugene, O.R.
1st, 2nd and 3rd Year Apprenticeships; Physiology for the Herbalist; California Botanical Adventure; (>1,000 hrs). Botany, ecology, herbalism, wildcrafting. 4/03- 10/05
Language Fluency: English and Spanish.
Adjunct Professor. 2013-present.
BI 442/542 Systematic Botany (x2), BI 213 Populations (x4),
and BI 130 Introduction to Ecology (x2).
Graduate Teaching Fellow. 2008 - 2014.
BI 212 Organisms, BI 213 Populations, BI 306 Pollination
Biology, BI 307 Forest Biology, BI 370 Ecology, BI 399 Natural and Cultural
History of Oregon, BI 432/532 Mycology, BI 442/542 Systematic Botany, BI
479/579 Neotropical Ecology (Ecuador).
Adjunct Professor. 2014-2015.
BI 435/535 Plant Systematics.
Cascadia Permaculture Institute, Eugene, OR.
Co-Instructor; 6th Annual Willamette Valley Permaculture Design Course (90 hours). 3-6/08.
Institute of Contemporary Ethnobotany, Eugene, O.R.
Director
and Instructor. Feb. 2006-Dec. 2007.
Herbalism,
botanical identification, ethnobotany, chemistry, gardening.
Mount Pisgah Arboretum, Eugene, O.R.
Workshop Leader
*Botanical Identification Workshop (2-days). Plant anatomy, family characteristics, keying and field ID. April 2006 and April 2007.
*Botanical Identification Workshop (2-days). Plant anatomy, family characteristics, keying and field ID. April 2006 and April 2007.
Lane Community College, Eugene, OR.
Tutor
Science Resource Center. Botany, biology, chemistry. 2003 – 2006.
Teaching Assistant
Botany: Bot 202 and Bot 203. January - June 2004 and 2005.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
American Herbal Dispensary, Eugene, OR.
Assistant General Manager. Responsible for coordinating the production, harvest and handling of a wide range of medicinal herbs. 3/08 – 10/08.
Pacific Biodiversity Institute, Winthrop, WA.
Botanist; Botanical inventories and rare plant surveys for Oregon State Parks. Submitted rare plant documentation to the Oregon Natural Heritage Program. 7-8/07.
Hendrick’s Park, City of Eugene, OR.
Gardener; Specializing in native plants. 5–9/05.
West Eugene Wetlands, City of Eugene, OR.
Crew Leader; Responsible for collecting seed from native plants for an inter-agency restoration effort. 6- 9/04.
Walama Restoration Project, Eugene, OR.
Ecological Restoration Technician; Invasive species removal, replanting native
vegetation, seed collection of native species, children’s education. 7/02-2/04.
Urban Ecological Design, Eugene, OR.
Gardener; Native landscape installation and maintenance. 3/02-9/03.
Whiteaker Urban Sustainability Project, Eugene, OR.
Volunteer Coordinator; Organized educational events, outreach, publicity. 2/01-11/01.
Ann Christensen Environmental Design, Eugene, OR.
Gardener; Landscape installation and maintenance. 10/00-6/04.
Raphael Garden, Fair Oaks, CA.
Internship; Involved in all aspects of an organic market and seed garden. 2/00-6/00
Roxbury Farm, Claverack, NY.
Internship; Involved in all aspects of an organic vegetable farm. 4/98-12/98
SERVICE
Peer Review. Ecology, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, New Phytologist, and Plant Science Bulletin. (Publons Profile)
Includes monitoring restoration and improvement; coordinating volunteer projects, and promoting the Whilamut Natural Area as a valuable open space asset. Three-year appointment 2013-16.
Mount Pisgah Arboretum, Lane Co. OR.
Wildflower Festival; Responsible for collection and set-up. 2002-09 and 2012-14.
Mushroom Festival; Set-up and collection. 2002 and 2009.
Moosa Canyon, San Diego County.
Botanical inventory. Results submitted to Nature Conservancy. 3/05.
Howard Buford Recreation Area, Lane Co. OR.
Annual survey for the federally-listed, rare Lomatium bradshawii. 2002-2005.
Native Plant Society of Oregon, Emerald Chapter, Eugene.
Monitoring of the threatened Cypripedium montanum. 5/04.
Buena Fortuna; Co-Evolutionary Botanical Garden. Baja Sur, MX.
Planting, weeding, seed collection, and irrigation maintenance. 1/99, 2/03 and 12/04.
Food Not Lawns, Eugene, OR.
Co-Founder. Resource and information distribution, education, outreach, gatherings, library, bioremediation, children’s activities. 2/99-11/01. www.foodnotlawns.com.
Cascadia Free School, Eugene, OR.
Director. Publicity, administration, teaching. 9/00-6/01.
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Toronto, Canada.
Board Member; Direct-action casework; coalition building; publicity. 9/97-3/98.
Stand Up Harlem, New York, N.Y.
Volunteer; HIV+ community. Maintenance, acquisition, and general support. 6/97-8/97.
Community Youth Conferences, MA, MI, NJ; Berlin, Germany.
Member of planning committees; Nine conferences. Semi-annual 1993-97.
Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, Kimberton, PA.
Intern; Dairy & orchard. Included working with adults with mental disabilities. 1992-96.
HONORS and AWARDS
Lane Community College Foundation
Distinguished Alumni Award 2014.
GrEBES (Graduate Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Students) Travel Award.
Round trip airfare to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY to work on fragrance chemistry with Rob Raguso. Summer 2012.
National Science Foundation.
Research and Education Undergraduate supplement to DEB-0515777 (granted to B. A. Roy). $5,000. 6-9/07.
Centurion Award. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
Recognizing extraordinary leadership and service. 5/07
Non-Traditional Student Award. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
In recognition of breadth and depth of experience and contributions made. 5/07
Dunbar Scholarship. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
General Development Scholarship. University of Oregon, Eugene.
$1,000.
Staton Family Foundation Scholarship.
Lane Community College and University of Oregon. $15,000. 9/04-6/07
Phi Theta Kappa, Lane Community College, Eugene.
Member; International Honors Society. 1- 6/04
Lane Community College Honor Roll
Fall 2003 and Winter 2004 and 2005.
JOURNALS AND BOOKS
Policha, T., B. Dentinger, R. Manobanda, B. Roy, Submitted. Where Dracula lurks: Context drives mimicry in a neotropical orchid. Ecology.
Policha, T. J., and B. A. Roy. 2012. Fungi, plants and pollinators: Sex, disease and
deception. In Biocomlexity of plant-fungal interactions. Edited by
D. Southworth. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ.
Roy, B. A., S. Güsewell, T. Coulson, W. Blaser, T. Policha, J. Stewart, and K. Blaisdell. 2011. Population regulation by enemies of the grass Brachypodium sylvaticum: demography in native and invaded ranges. Ecology 92:3, 665-675.
Roy, B. A., S. Güsewell, T. Coulson, W. Blaser, T. Policha, J. Stewart, and K. Blaisdell. 2011. Population regulation by enemies of the grass Brachypodium sylvaticum: demography in native and invaded ranges. Ecology 92:3, 665-675.
Policha, T. 2011. Plantas de Mindo: Una guia del bosque nublado del Choco Andino / Plants of Mindo: A guide to the cloud forest of the Andean Choco. 184pp. American Herbal Dispensary Press, Eugene, OR.
Filhart, S. and T. Policha. 2006. Plant of the year: Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium), our state flower. Kalmiopsis. 13: 32-36.
PUBLICATIONS IN PREPARATION
Policha, T., R. Manobanda, A. Davis, M. Barnadas, B. Dentinger, R. Raguso, B. Roy.How to act like a mushroom: Olfactory and visual cues in the attraction of drosophilid flies by tropical Dracula orchids.
Policha, T., R. Raguso, D. Grimaldi, B. Dentinger, A. Ludden, B. Roy. How flies count Dracula: specificity in floral visitation.
Policha, T., B. Dentinger, D. Grimaldi, R. Manobanda, J. McAlpine, A. Troya, L. Espinoza, A.Reysenbach, A. Ludden, B. Roy. Dracula’s ménage à trois: Resource use in a fungal mimicry system.
POPULAR PRESS
Policha, T. 2007. Native plants and permaculture: a call for stewardship. NPSO Bulletin. 40(9): 94-95.
Policha, T. 2006. Rewilding the garden: Towards a contemporary ethnobotany. Permaculture News.
Policha, T. 2006. Wonders of the winter woods. Permaculture News.
Policha, T. 2005. Where we live. Earth Tithe.
Policha, T. 2005. Deserts alive! NPSO Bulletin. 38 (5): 52.
Policha, T. 2004. More than a pigment of the imagination. In Good Tilth. 15 (6): 1: 11.
Policha, T. 2003. Mexican plants, places & people. In Good Tilth. 14 (6): 12-13.
Policha, T. 2003. Biodynamics comes to Oregon. In Good Tilth. 14 (1): 13.
Policha, T. 2002. Ecological restoration redefines human role in the environment. In Good Tilth. 13 (6): 7.
Policha, T. 2001. Keyline irrigation: protect keypoint watersheds. In Good Tilth. 12 (4): 6-7.
Policha, T. 2001. The alchemist and the cosmos: the artistic spirit of biodynamics: a converstion with Dennis Klocek. In Good Tilth. 12 (2): 8-9.
Policha, T. et al. 2001. Nature’s pruning lessons. In Good Tilth. 12 (1): 19.
Policha, T. 2000. Food not lawns! Front Porch News. 17: 1-2.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Policha,T., B. Dentinger, D. Grimaldi, A. Ludden, A. Troya, R. Raguso, B. Roy. 2015.
Substrate use by mycophilous Drosophilidae: Implications for the evolution of fungal mimicry by Dracula orchids. Botanical Society of America meeting. Edmonton, AB. Canada.Roy, B., A. Davis, T. Policha, M. Barnadas,B. Dentinger. 2012. Perceptual bias in floral mimicry: Visual Cues. Ecological Society of America meeting. Portland, OR. Aug. 9.
McAlpine, J., T. Policha, B. Dentinger, B.and B. Roy. 2012. Floral yeasts driving pollinator recruitment in a Neotropical orchid.Ecological Society of America meeting. Portland, OR. Aug. 9.
Policha, T., R. Manobanda, J. McAlpine, B. Dentinger, B. Roy. 2011. Pollination ecology of mushroom-mimicking Dracula orchids. Botanical Society of America meeting, St. Louis, MO. July 12.
Policha, T., B. Dentinger, A. Troya, R. Manobanda, F. Bechtolsheim, J. McAlpine, B. Roy. 2010. Evidence for Mimicry in the Pollination of Dracula Orchids. International Congress of Dipterology VII. San Jose, Costa Rica. Aug. 12.
Policha, T., B. Dentinger, R. Manobanda, J. McAlpine, B. Roy. 2010. Evidence for Mimicry in the Pollination of Dracula Orchids. Poster at the meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Portland OR.
Roy, B.A.*, Dentinger, B.T.M.*, T. Policha, T.S. Jenkinson, and R. Manobanda. 2008. Testing the hypothesis of mushroom mimicry for Dracula felix orchids. Ecological Society of America and Mycological Society of America meetings. *equally contributing authors
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
The Free Herbalism Project. Mountain Rose Herbs,Eugene, OR.
Herbs in the Landscape: A Permaculture Perspective. May 2015.
Willamette Orchid Society. Eugene, OR.
Pollination of Dracula: with notes on other Andean Pleurothallids. 6/20/12.
Cherry City Orchid Society. Salem, OR.
Mary’s Peak Orchid Society, Corvallis, OR.
Pollination of Dracula: with notes on other Andean Pleurothallids. Nov. 1. 2011.
Eugene Natural History Society, Eugene, OR.
Draculas in the mist: Pollination ecology of mushroom-mimicking orchids. October 21. 2011.
RootStalk: a celebration of plants, people and planet. Salem OR
Botanically Speaking. Two-part, hands-on workshop co-taught with Steven Yeager. 9/25-26/11
Northwest Herbfest. Wise Acres Farm, Pleasant Hill, OR
Wild weed walk and Medicinal herb identification for the beginner. 7/24-25/11
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador.
Cuando flores parece como hongos: La ecología de la la polinización de las orquídeas Drácula. April 2010.
Sustainable Lifestyles Festival. Wise Acres Farm, Pleasant Hill, OR
Edible and Medicinal Plant Walks. 6/27&28/09
Biology Department; University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
Bi 213 Field Trip: Ecology Walk. 5/18/07 & 6/3/09.
Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Living, University of Oregon, Eugene.
Ethnobotany and Edibles Walk. 5/31/09.
Cascadia Permaculture Institute, Eugene, OR.
7th Annual Willamette Valley Permaculture Design Course. 4/18 & 6/6-7/09.
Friends of Hendrick’s Park. Eugene, OR.
Medicinal Plant Walks. 6/18/06, 6/24/07, 4/13/08, 4/12/09.
Biology Department; University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
Presentation for BI 306 Pollination Biology. 5/29/08
Lost Valley Educational Center. Dexter, OR.
Fall Ecology and Harvest Plant Walk. 10/14/07
Environmental Studies Program; University of Oregon, Eugene.
Urban Ecology Walk for ENVS 411 Nature in
the Metropolis. 10/11/07
Native Plant Society of Oregon. Eugene, OR.Plants of Ecuador: Slide Show. 5/21/07
Lost Valley Educational Center. Dexter, OR.
Native Plants and Permaculture Conference. Ethnobotanical Walk; Panel: Local Sustainable Foodsheds. 5/11-12/07
False Brome Working Group. Southern Willamette Valley, OR.
Field trip to research sites. 4/25/07
Northwest Herbal Faire. Van Zandt, WA.
Medicinal Plant Walk. 8/05
H.O.P.E Farm. Coburg, OR.
Seed-Saving Workshop. 8/04
Regional Permaculture Gathering. Eugene, OR.
Seed-Saving Workshop. 9/03
Regional Permaculture Gathering. Lost Valley Educational Center. Dexter, OR
Seed-Saving Workshop; Water Management Workshop. 9/01 and 9/02
Wellsprings Alternative Highschool. Eugene, OR.
Seed-Saving and Food Politics Workshop. 6/02
Anthroposophical Youth Conference. Ann Arbor, MI.
Reflections on a month volunteering in a HIV+ community, in Harlem, NYC. 7/97
MEMBERSHIPS
American Botanical Council
Member since 2011
American Federation of Teachers
Member since 2008
Botanical Society of America
Member since 2013American Botanical Council
Member since 2011
American Federation of Teachers
Member since 2008
Botanical Society of America
Cascade Mycological Society
Member since 2008
Ecological Society of America
Member since 2012
Mount Pisgah Arboretum
Member since 2011
Native Plant Society of Oregon
Member since 2004
Society for Economic Botany
Member since 2009
