Jim Verrier joined GSRC in 2024. Jim is a botanist and ecologist with 16 years of fieldwork and research experience in Arizona and New Mexico. He has generated botanical inventories of a conservation property and four Arizona sky island mountain ranges. Jim has conducted population surveys for a state-listed critically imperiled plant, Rio Grande butterfly bush (Buddleja sessiliflora), and has assisted with monitoring the Federally-listed Pima pineapple cactus (Coryphantha robustispina). He has authored and coauthored ten scientific publications examining floristic work, rare plants, the effects of extreme climate on tree species, parasitic orchids that obtain all nutrition from mycorrhizal fungi, and biogeography. Jim’s most recent publication examines the distribution and abiotic drivers of subtropical plant distribution in the Arizona-New Mexico sky island region, with a focus on conservation implications and identifying hotspots of high ecological significance.

He has over two decades of experience managing a production and retail native plant nursery, including greenhouse work, infrastructure maintenance, the propagation of more than 500 species, and curating a native seed bank.

Jim received a BS and MS in Environmental Studies from Prescott College.