Ben Gahagen

Education

Ph.D. in Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, 2015

B.S. in Biology, James Madison University, 2006

Biography

... began his academic career in 2006 at James Madison University, where he earned a B.S. in Biology. While there were no concentrations or tracks available at James Madison University at the time, he developed a passion for plant-related subjects and took as many botany courses as possible, including Field Botany, Human Uses of Plants, Morphology of Non-Vascular Plants, Plant Biology, and Systematics of Vascular Plants. He also participated in various floristic and taxonomic undergraduate research projects. His professors, courses, and research opportunities fueled Dr. Gahagen's desire to continue the study of botany-related subjects and he enrolled in the Environmental and Plant Biology Ph.D. program at Ohio University. In 2015, Dr. Gahagen graduated from the Environmental and Plant Biology Ph.D. program with a specialization in plant systematics, which is the investigation of evolutionary relationships and taxonomy of plants. He taught botany and biology-related courses at Marietta College and Ohio University before coming to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in 2017. Recently, Dr. Gahagen has taken an interest in parasitic plants (plants that parasitize other plants), particularly hemiparasitic plants in the genus Seymeria (Orobanchaceae).