Joel K. Abraham is an American ecologist and professor at California State University Fullerton. [1] His work focuses on how plant traits and competition shape invasion success by non-native plant species in California.
Joel K. Abraham completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at Howard University in 2000 and his PhD in Integrative Biology at University of California Berkeley. [2] [3] He conducted his PhD work with Wayne Sousa and Carla D’Antonio, producing a dissertation titled “On the Importance of Plant Phenology and Resource Use in the Invasion of California Coastal Grasslands”. [4] His dissertation notably contains a recipe for one of his study species (fennel). [4] Abraham is currently a professor at California State University Fullerton. [1] In addition to the topics of plant traits and invasion, Abraham's research also spans urban agriculture and biology education, [1] and he served as the science consultant on the children's book “The Answer is Armadillos”. [5]
In 2022, Abraham won the Carol Barnes Excellence in Teaching Award from CSUF, where he had been teaching since 2011. Joel Abraham has a passion for making sure science and STEM can reach all students, no matter their economic situation. [6]