Name: Loreen Allphin
BYU employee since: August of 1996.
My job at BYU... is as an associate dean in the College of Life Sciences and professor of Plant and Wildlife Sciences. I study rare and endangered plant species for my research
Currently... I’m studying how to conserve several rare plant species from high elevation mountain ranges in southern Utah.
I get most excited about my work... when I am working with students out in nature, doing field research.
I have always had a love and respect... for the natural world and all of Heavenly Father’s creations.
The best advice I’ve ever gotten about teaching... is to learn to love all my students. This is something that I have tried to do throughout my career. If you love those you teach, they feel that love and belonging which inspires and fosters learning.
My favorite lecture to teach is... my lecture on our environmental stewardship as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When I have 30 minutes of free-time... you can find me working on a puzzle, watching a Hallmark movie or reading a book.
On Saturdays in the summer... you’ll often find me on horseback in the mountains. I love going on horse rides in the mountains with my husband. I love to botanize (identify plants), enjoy the scenery, and observe wildlife.
My favorite TV show growing up... was Mutual of Omaha’s, Wild Kingdom.
If I could travel anywhere... I would go to the Cape of South Africa because it is a biodiversity hotspot for plants. I would also like to visit the Galapagos Islands that inspired Charles Darwin’s work.
My fondest memory from my childhood... was camping and fishing every summer with my family and grandparents in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.