Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson

Curator of Botany

Formal headshot of Dr. Diana Bizecki-Robson smiling at the camera with her arm crossed.

Dr. Bizecki Robson obtained a Master’s Degree in Plant Ecology at the University of Saskatchewan studying rare plants of the mixed grass prairies. After working as an environmental consultant and sessional lecturer, she earned her Ph.D. in Soil Science from the same University, focusing on phytoremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil using plants. Diana joined the Manitoba Museum team in 2003. She has continued to study rare prairie plants, documenting their distribution, habitat, and ecological relationships with other species. She also conducts research on prairie pollination and the conservation of wild crop pollinators, like bees and flower flies, in agroecosystems using wildflower plantings. Currently, she is working on a new Manitoba Flora publication to share her research and knowledge on the diversity of vascular plants in the province. When she has time, Diana also collects fungi, lichens, and mosses to document their distribution and habitat needs in Manitoba, and assess their rarity.

Learn more about the Botany Collection

Museum Stories: Botany

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Close up on flowers with long narrow purple petals and large, bulb-like red-brown centres.
Botany
Wednesday September 25, 2024

Pawing for Prairie Plants

Manitoba’s native prairies are endangered because most of them have been cultivated for annual crop production. As a result, some of the rarest species of plants in the province are found in the prairies. The Manitoba Museum helps to document where the rarest plants grow by conducting careful surveys of the prairies that remain. Some of the rare plants are tiny and can only be seen by pawing through the thick grasses.
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A gingerbread person cookie on a holiday themed paper plate decorated in Christmas trees, mistletoe, and stars.
Botany
Monday December 4, 2023

Roots, Shoots, Flowers, & Fruits: The Anatomy of a Gingerbread Cookie

December is the time of year when people tend to eat desserts with lots of spices in them, including…
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A bright orange mushroom lying picked on the grass.
Botany
Monday April 3, 2023

The Fungus Among Us 

Fungi grow just about everywhere and yet we are usually ignorant of their presence until they produce mushrooms in our lawns…
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A watercolour painting of a pink Prairie Rose plant with three flowers and two rosebuds.
Botany
Monday January 30, 2023

In Manitoba, the Roses Aren't Red

It’s almost Valentines Day and the flower that most people associate with that holiday is bright red.
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Photograph of a rocky and grassy shoreline with reddish-brown rocks in the background.
Botany
Friday September 23, 2022

From South to North: Climate Change Impact on Plants

This summer I went from Manitoba’s southern-most border all the way to its northern one within just a week. I was fascinated…
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A close-up of a bee on a yellow dandelion head.
Botany
Tuesday July 5, 2022

Dandelions: Filling the Ecological Vacuum in our Lawns

You may have heard the old saying that “nature abhors a vacuum”. To understand this expression, you probably…
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Publications

Robson, D.B., J.H. Wiersema, C.B. Hellquist, and T. Borsch. 2016. Distribution and ecology of a new species of water-lily Nymphaea loriana (Nymphaeaceae) in Canada. Canadian Field Naturalist 130(1): 25-31. 

Robson, D.B. 2015. Plant-pollinator matrices: Applications for prairie restoration. Canadian Reclamation 15(1): 18-22. 

Robson, D.B. 2014. Pass the salt shaker! Manitoba salt-loving succulent red samphire. In: The 2015 Prairie Garden: Grasses and Succulents. Edited by: R. Denesiuk. The Prairie Garden Committee, Winnipeg, MB. pp. 103-104. 

Robson, D.B. 2014. Identification of plant species for crop pollinator habitat enhancement in the northern prairies. Journal of Pollination Ecology 14(23): 238-254. 

Robson, D.B. 2014. Mutualistic and antagonistic networks involving the rare silky prairie-clover (Dalea villosa var. villosa), and its co-flowering plants and insect visitors. Botany 92(1): 47-58. 

Robson, D.B. 2013. An assessment of the potential for pollination facilitation of a rare plant by common plants: Symphyotrichum sericeum (Asteraceae) as a case study. Botany 91(1):1-9. 

Robson, D.B. 2011. Rarity Status Assessments of Bugseeds (Amaranthaceae: Corispermum) in Manitoba. Canadian Field Naturalist 125(4): 338-352. 

Robson, D.B. 2010. An analysis of the distribution, ecology and status of bugseeds (Corispermum) in Canada. Canadian Field Naturalist 124(3): 246-255. 

Robson, D.B. 2010. The bugseeds (Corispermum) of the Prairie Provinces. Blue Jay 68: 199-207. 

Robson, D.B. 2010. Reproductive ecology of the western silvery aster Symphyotrichum sericeum in Canada. Endangered Species Research 12: 49-55. 

Robson, D.B. 2010. A comparison of flower-visiting insects to rare, Symphyotrichum sericeum and common, Solidago nemoralis (Asteraceae). Botany 88(3): 241-249. 

Robson, D.B. 2008. The saltbushes (Atriplex) of the prairie provinces. Blue Jay 66: 211-225. 

Robson, D.B. 2008. The structure of the flower-insect visitor system in tall-grass prairie. Botany 86(11): 1266-1278. 

Robson, D.B. 2008. The prairie goosefoots. Blue Jay 66(2): 82-95. 

Robson, D.B. 2006. Status of Smooth Goosefoot, Chenopodium subglabrum (Chenopodiaceae) in Canada. Canadian Field Naturalist 120(3): 335-341. 

Robson, D.B. 2006. Flies: Nuisance or necessity. Blue Jay 64(2): 84-96. 

Robson, D.B., J. Greenall, C. Hamel, C. Foster. 2005. Smooth goosefoot rediscovered in Manitoba. Blue Jay 63(2): 81-84.

Meet the Curatorial Team