Tiana Franklin Rehman

Tiana Rehman (née Franklin) joined the BRIT staff in 2003 as Herbarium Collections Assistant, having previously volunteered with the BRIT Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program. Tiana was the Collections Manager of the BRIT herbarium beginning in 2009 for over 12 years. She became the Director of the Herbarium in 2022, and as such she facilitates the care, usage, and growth of the plant collection housed in the BRIT herbarium, as well as its interpretation for the public. Tiana’s interests in collections management include the task of keeping the myriad physical and virtual data elements that contribute to project-based research both current and accessible.

Tiana’s M.S. in Environmental Science from Texas Christian University was earned while working at BRIT, and her thesis addressed the diversity and small-scale distribution of members of the Myristicaceae (nutmeg family of plants) at the Los Amigos Biological Station in Madre de Dios, Peru. She continues to be an active field botanist and has contributed specimens to local (Texas) and international (Peru, Costa Rica, Jamaica) floristics projects. Additionally, Tiana has interests in photography, microscopy and biodiversity informatics (e.g., Atrium Biodiversity Information System, Apiary Project, National Science Foundation Thematic Collections Networks).