Rate My Professor Rachel Cook

Rachel Cook serves as Assistant Professor of Biology and Interim Chair of the Department of Natural Sciences at Fairmont State University, where she also acts as Curator of the Fairmont State University Herbarium (FWVA). She earned her B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo. In her role, Cook contributes to the academic leadership of the natural sciences programs and oversees the herbarium collection, supporting research and education in plant sciences.

Cook's research specializes in cytogeography of Solidago species and related genera in Asteraceae: Astereae, chromosome number determinations in the Compositae family (Tribe Astereae), and multivariate morphometric analyses of plant taxa. Her publications include "Cytogeography of Solidago sect. Erectae, sect. Villosicarpae, sect. Squarrosae, and sect. Brintonia (Asteraceae: Astereae)" (2022), "Cytogeography of Solidago sect. Maritimae (Asteraceae: Astereae)" (2022), "Cytogeography of the Solidago rugosa Mill. Complex (Asteraceae: Astereae) in Eastern North America" (2021), "Community development, implementation, and assessment of a NIBLSE bioinformatics sequence similarity learning resource" (2021), and "Chromosome number determinations in Fam. Compositae, Tribe Astereae. IX. North American taxa" (2019). Earlier works feature contributions to the Flora of North America, such as the Solidago chapter (2006, cited by 181), and Rhodora papers like "Chromosome number determinations in fam. Compositae, Tribe Astereae. VII. Mostly eastern North American and some Eurasian taxa" (2004, cited by 39). She has authored or co-authored on topics including multivariate morphometric studies of Solidago subsect. Glomeruliflorae (2009) and Sericocarpus (2005). Cook's scholarship has garnered 113 citations across 12 publications. She leads undergraduate research via the STaR SURE Grant in plant systematics and West Virginia flora taxonomy, and serves on faculty senate committees, enhancing departmental and institutional service.