Christina Stocking
Research Associate

Originally from the farmlands of Missouri, Christina grew up with a deep respect for nature but a yearning for the big city life. At the age of 21, she endeavored on a trip to make the dream of big city living a reality and moved to Miami. After 8 years in the field of accounting, she began to miss her connection to nature and decided to return to school to pursue a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology at Florida International University. In 2010, she left accounting for good to fully focus on her new love, botany. Armed with her new found plant knowledge and her reliable accounting skills she was chosen for an internship at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden as the Conservation Research/Plant Records Intern in 2011. During the year-long internship she contributed to the floristic and conservation research being conducted here in South Florida and abroad including the Cockpit Country of Jamaica, the Caribbean Basin and Indonesia. She also contributed to the maintenance of plants records for the garden including the integration of the American Orchid Society’s orchid collection into Fairchild’s Living Collection. After the internship ended and her bachelor’s degree completed, Christina started working for the IRC in 2012 helping to maintain the databases the fuel the many floristic inventories that the IRC has to offer. In addition to database management she also assists in floristic and taxonomic research. With a thirst for knowledge she strives for excellence by continuing her education. She is an ISA Certified Arborist and a Florida Master Naturalist.