My ongoing research interests are on moss floristics and basic bryophyte inventory activities. My field work shifted around 1997 from flowering plants to bryophytes with an emphasis in bryogeography through specimen acquisition to expand the diversity of the collections within the herbaria of CAS and UC. Nine plant species have been named in my honor including three mosses and the moss genus Shevockia. One of my most valuable contributions to science is my set of herbarium specimens currently with over 41,000 numbers obtained from western North America (especially California and Nevada), China, Taiwan, Philippines, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, São Tomé e Príncipe (Gulf of Guinea, west Africa), Chile, and Rota and Hawaii in the Pacific Basin. All of my flowering plant collections are housed at CAS with many early numbered duplicates at RSA and for my bryophyte collections the first set is at CAS with many duplicates at MO, NY, and UC. A complete set of my Yunnan Province, China collections reside at E, KUN and MO with many duplicates at H, NY, PE and UC, and a set of my Taiwan collections are at the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute (TAIE) and also at MO. Nearly half of my bryophyte collections are the product of international expeditions with the greatest number obtained in China primarily in the mountainous region of Yunnan Province (the Gaoligongshan) along the border with Myanmar in the Nu Jiang (Salween) and Irrawaddy river basins. Another of my research interests is focused on the distribution and ecology of rheophytic bryophytes. These species are restricted to seasonally fast flowing rivers and streams where they are then exposed for various times of the year (usually the summer season) thereby requiring both the ability to be aquatic and deal with extended periods of desiccation on exposed rocks. The number of bryophytes that can be classified as "rheophytes" is probably less than 500 species worldwide. Rheophytes also have a distinct linear distribution pattern within the water column. Some rheophytes occur along the high water mark while others are submerged for extended periods forming distinct species zones. Part of the ongoing inventory of rheophytic bryophytes led to the discovery of a new rheophytic genus, Yunnanobryon, described in 2011 from China.

I received my B.S. (1976) and M.A. (1978) in Botany from California State Univ., Long Beach. Upon graduation, I began my federal public service career as the botanist/ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, Sequoia National Forest (1979-84). In 1984 I accepted at 2-year assignment approved by the Secretary of Agriculture to assist the California Department of Fish & Game as botanist of its Natural Diversity Database. In 1986, I was then promoted to Regional Botanist for the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region stationed at that time in San Francisco (now Mare Island, Vallejo, CA) where I administered the sensitive and rare plant program across 18 national forests in California. In 1998 I departed the Forest Service for a new opportunity to serve as the Associate Regional Director for Resources, Stewardship & Science for the USDI National Park Service, Pacific West Region, headquartered in San Francisco. On February 1, 2004 I began my new NPS role as research coordinator at the Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit duty stationed at U.C. Berkeley. I officially retired from federal government service effective January 2, 2009 so I could focus on more bryological expeditions and my research interests. I am a research associate of the Department of Botany, California Academy of Sciences since 1983, and elected as a Fellow in 2007. I have served as President, Corresponding Secretary and Council Member for the California Botanical Society, Member at Large with the American Bryological and Lichenological Society, Vice President for Plant Programs with the California Native Plant Society and Secretary-Treasurer of the International Association of Bryologists. My current office is located at CAS.