Naomi Suzanne Fraga (born 1979) is an American botanist who is the Director of Conservation at the California Botanic Garden and research assistant professor of botany at

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California, United States. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes five undergraduate and two grad ...

. She has focused her career on the conservation, monitoring and habitat restoration of rare plants across

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She was awarded the 2021 Center for Biological Diversity E.O. Wilson Award for Outstanding Science in Biodiversity Conservation. In 2023, Fraga received the Peter Raven Award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. This award is given annually to a plant systematist who has made exceptional efforts at outreach to non-scientists.

Early life and education

Fraga grew up in California. She was an undergraduate student at

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a Public university, public Institute of Technology (United States)#Polytechnic universities, polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the l ...

where she studied biology and botany. In 2002 she wrote a senior thesis on ''A Short Flora of Short Canyon, Kern County, California.'' Starting from 2001 she worked as a volunteer at the herbarium of the California Botanic Garden — then named "Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (RSABG)" — in Claremont, California. She undertook her master studies in botany at the

, finishing in 2005 with a thesis on ''A Vascular Flora of the Owens Peak Eastern Watershed, southern Sierra, Kern County, California.'' In 2015 she earned her Ph.D. with a dissertation on ''

Phrymaceae Phrymaceae, also known as the lopseed family, is a small family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Phrymaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Botanical Databases At: Missouri Botanical Garden Websi ...

'', California Monkeyflowers.

Research and career

Fraga works as a research assistant professor at

. She is responsible for the California Seed Bank which homes billions of seeds and the world's largest collection of native plant seeds from California. Fraga campaigned to protect Tiehm's buckwheat (''Eriogonum tiehmii''), which was treated by the proposed construction of a lithium mine. Tiehm's buckwheat has suffered in the changing climate of California, particularly with the diminished rainfall, excess temperatures and reduction in groundwater. When Tiehm's buckwheat becomes stressed the plants that sprout do not produce viable seeds. She also monitors and maintains the

Amargosa niterwort ''Nitrophila mohavensis'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common name Amargosa niterwort. It is endemic to Nye County in southwestern Nevada and Inyo County, in eastern California. Distribution a ...

(''Nitrophila mohavensis'') and contributed to the recovery of the Hidden Lake bluecurls (''Trichostema austromontanum'' subsp. ''compactum'').

Awards and honors

* 2019

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

Recovery Champion award * 2021 Center for Plant Conservation's Star Award * 2021 Center for Biological Diversity E.O. Wilson Award * 2023 American Society of Plant Taxonomists' Peter Raven Award

Selected publications

* * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraga, Naomi 1979 births Living people Claremont Graduate University alumni California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni 21st-century American botanists Scientists from California