Katherine (Katie) Bober
  • Ph.D Student
  • Teaching Assistant
Advisor: Anne Raymond

Teaching Experience

Fall 2024                       Geologic Communication (GEOL 210) at Texas A&M

2022                             SWARC Lecture for Introduction to Geology - UW-Milwaukee at Washington County

2020 – 2022                  Wausau School District and D.C. Everest School District

2018 – 2019                  EEA Learning Academy

2017 – 2018                  Unified School District of Marshfield

Research Interests

The relationship between extinct cordaitean plants and the extant conifers is not well understood.  Despite understanding that the cordaitean plants existed in a variety of environments, we know little of water transport in cordaiteans.  By investigating physical features within the water transport system (such as tracheids and rays) of cordaiteans and conifers, we can tackle the question of how closely related they are and how cordaiteans were able to transport water.

In the past, I have worked on paleobotanical inventory reports for the National Park Service system as well as attempting to identify the botanical origins of copal and amber using two-photon excitation fluorescence microspectroscopy.

  • Plants
  • Plant fossils
  • Conifers
  • Cordaiteans
  • Xylem
  • Tracheids
  • Resin
  • Fossil resin

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. at Texas A&M (Ongoing)
  • M.S. at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI (2024)
  • B.S. at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI (2017)
  • A.A.S. at University of Wisconsin – Marathon County, Wausau, WI (2011)
  • 2024-2027 Dionel Avilés ’53 and Dr. James Johnson ’67 Fellowship in Geology and Geophysics from the Texas A&M Graduate School
  • 2024-2025 Texas A&M Department of Geology and Geophysics Scholarship
  • 2024-2025 Texas A&M Graduate School scholarship
  • 2022-2025 Advanced Opportunity Program Fellowship
  • 2022-2026 “Paleontology in the Parks” – National Park Service Fellowship
  • Fall 2023 On to the Future GSA Travel Award
  • Spring 2023 Nelson Cherkauer Lasca Legacy Scholarship
  • 2022-2023 Southern Wisconsin Aspire Regional Collaborative

Selected Publications

  • Stoneman, M., McCoy, V. E., Gee, C., Bober, K.M.M., Raicu, V. Fluorophores in fossil plants: investigation

                      through two photon excitation fluorescence micro-spectroscopy. Communications Biology, 7

                      (53). 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-05763-z.

                                                          Published abstracts and presentations:

    Bober, K.M.M., Matel, T., Huegele, I.B., Cace, C.R., Boucher, L., Hermsen, E., Manchester, S.R., McCoy,

                      V.E., Santucci, V.L., Tweet, J.S., Visaggi, C.C. An overview of Paleozoic paleobotanical resources

                      documented in National Park Service areas. Poster Presentation for the North American

                      Paleontological Conference on June 17, 2024.

    Bober, K.M.M., Matel, T., Huegele, I.B., Cace, C.R., Boucher, L., Hermsen, E., Manchester, S.R., McCoy,

                      V.E., Santucci, V.L., Tweet, J.S., Visaggi, C.C. An overview of Cenozoic paleobotanical resources

                      documented in National Park Service areas. Poster Presentation for Geological Society of

                      America on Oct. 15, 2023.

    Bober, K.M.M., Stoneman, M., Raicu, V., McCoy, V.E. Chemical variations in amber examined with two-

                      photon excitation fluorescence micro-spectroscopy. Oral and Poster Presentation with the North-Central Geological Society of America on May 4, 2023.

                                                                             In preparation:

    McCoy, V.E, Stoneman, M.R., Bober, K.M.M., Peñalver, E., Raicu, V. Fluorescence spectroscopy of amber of
                    different botanic origins. In preparation.

    Huegele, I.B., Bober, K.M.M., Matel, T., Cace, C.R., Boucher, L., Hermsen, E., Manchester, S.R., McCoy,

                      V.E., Santucci, V.L., Tweet, J.S., Visaggi, C.C. An overview of paleobotanical resources

                      documented in National Park Service areas. In preparation.

    Bober, K.M.M., Matel, T., Huegele, I.B., Cace, C.R., Boucher, L., Hermsen, E., Manchester, S.R., McCoy,

                      V.E., Santucci, V.L., Tweet, J.S., Visaggi, C.C. An overview of Paleozoic paleobotanical resources

                      documented in National Park Service areas. In preparation.

    Cace, C.R., Matel, T., Bober, K.M.M., Huegele, I.B., Boucher, L., Hermsen, E., Manchester, S.R., McCoy,

                      V.E., Santucci, V.L., Tweet, J.S., Visaggi, C.C. An overview of Mesozoic paleobotanical resources

                      documented in National Park Service areas. In preparation.

    Matel, T., Bober, K.M.M., Huegele, I.B., Cace, C.R., Boucher, L., Hermsen, E., Manchester, S.R., McCoy,

                      V.E., Santucci, V.L., Tweet, J.S., Visaggi, C.C. An overview of Cenozoic paleobotanical resources

                      documented in National Park Service areas. In preparation. 

     

    I have several works in preparation due to the nature of the “paleontology in the parks” project.

As of the summer of 2025, I will begin work in collaboration with the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins and NASA for Project Dragonfly concerning ultraviolet fluorescence of tholins.