Deidre Jaeger is a native plant enthusiast with a growing love for backyard botanicals. Whether native or exotic, plants fascinate Deidre, who has worked with several botanic gardens and the USDA Agricultural Research Station. After becoming inspired to study plants of the city, she launched herself into the urban ecology field with the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2016. Now at the University of Colorado Boulder, Deidre is a PhD Candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, a graduate fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and an advisor for CU Boulder's Center for Sustainable Landscapes and Communities. Deidre’s research focuses on microclimate effects on the timing of urban tree budburst, curriculum development of undergraduate research experiences and power-of-place education.