Many thanks to the field crew members of the Paint Rock plot for carefully and persistently collecting the first plot census data (2019-2021).

Lynne Weninegar is the Botany Coordinator of the Paint Rock Forest Dynamics Plot (PRFDP) at Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve in Jackson Co., AL and the curator of the AAMU Forestry Herbarium. As such, she oversees species collection, preservation, and descriptive elements of plant specimens of the PRFDP. Lynne earned her M.S. Degree in Botany (2002) from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL. Her research concentration includes disturbed habitats of Alabama’s forests, natural waterways, and not-for-profit land holdings. Particular interests are centered on community dynamics of floral and faunal relationships after disturbance, forest edge effects after fire, and impacts of anthropological disturbances on forest ephemeral plant species and the issues affecting their sustainability. She is particularly interested in wetland species and the influence of non-native invasive species on native plant communities along floodplains and other natural wetlands.

Helen obtained her Bachelor's degree in Zoology with Honors in Biology in 1997 from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego. She currently works as the field dendrologist and as a research assistant for the Alabama A&M University's (AAMU) Paint Rock Forest Dynamics Plot. She joined the project in 2020, and is responsible for identifying the trees and shrubs on the plot, as well as assisting with specimen collections, censuses, and mortality surveys. For over a decade, Helen has performed survey work through AAMU in a variety of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems found in North Alabama, and has authored and co-authored several scientific publications on shrew, amphibian, and reptile records and ecology for North Alabama.