The maintenance of biodiversity is an important objective of many conservation plans. We are working with a number of institutions to assess the levels of genetic diversity that currently exists in a number of rare species. This includes working with numerous land managers in the Chicago region on the vulnerable Cirsium hillii and the federally listed orchid, Platanthera leucophaea.  Mike Howard (New Mexico BLM) on the critically imperiled Lepidospartum burgessi which is only found in a few locations in southern New Mexico and north Texas, Christal Niederer (Creekside Center for Earth Observation) on the federally endangered Castilleja affinis subsp. neglecta, Dr. Tom Kaye (Institute of Applied Ecology) on the federally threatened Castilleja levisecta, and Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir (Jerulsalem Botanic Garden) on the globally rare Iris vartanii. These types of studies allow us to assess populations of critical concern and assist with management decisions (Fant, Kramer, Ellwanger, White, Havens, Williams, and collaborators).