Meet the Happy Team!
CEO, Host, and Founder
Allasandra Valdez is ecological scientific researcher and PhD student in Cornell University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Allasandra Valdez wanted to share this plant passion with the world and founded The Happy Botanist Podcast. Her botanical journey began in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania where she spent much of her childhood. In her free time she loves hiking, cooking, skiing, and crafting.
Favorite Plant: Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma)
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Lincoln Weinstock is our (usually) fearless and bold marketing leader. He’s expanded 30+ businesses through omnichannel marketing campaigns and marketing technology and is also the Senior Demand Generation Specialist at INGENIOUS.BUILD. He loves music, adventure, the Philadelphia Eagles, running and of course…plants. He currently lives in Ithaca with his soon to be Fiance, Allasandra Valdez.
Favorite Plant: Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata)
Opperations Manager
Julia Biechler and Allasandra Valdez have been friends since elementary school and she is so excited to be a part of The Happy Botanist team. Julia grew up on a farm in southeastern Pennsylvania. Nurturing plants from seed to fruit and working in the gardens with her mom every year, has been some of Julia’s fondest botanical memories. Julia lives in Colorado Springs now and enjoys hiking through the Rocky Mountains in her free time.
Favorite Plant: Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Blog Editor/ Writer
Hannah Monti is a grad student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell (and Allasandra’s lab-mate). She started botanizing in and around the sagebrush of Idaho’s foothills and fell in love with foraging mushrooms on the Oregon coast. In her free time she likes to hike, knit, read, and evangelize about The Happy Botanist.
Favorite Plant: Western Larch (Larix occidentalis)