Travis D. Marsico is a Professor of Botany in the Department of Biological Sciences at Arkansas State University (A-State), where he also is the Curator of the A-State Herbarium, the university's natural history collection of plant specimens and associated data. Dr. Marsico received his B.S. in Biology from Arkansas Tech University, his M.S. in Biology from the University of Arkansas, and his Ph.D. in Biology with an emphasis in Ecology, Evolution, and the Environment from the University of Notre Dame. In 2021, Dr. Marsico was the inaugural winner of the Chancellor's Medal for Research and Creative Activities at A-State, the highest honor for a faculty member at the university. Dr. Marsico was the 2017-2018 recipient of the "You Made a Difference" Advisor Award from the A-State Wilson Advising Center, and he received the 2015-2016 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor award, presented by the A-State Graduate Student Council. Since 2010, Dr. Marsico has received more than $8 million in funding to support students in scholarship programs and conduct research on the causes and consequences of plant and insect pest species invasions and plant diversity patterns in fragmented landscapes and along elevation gradients. His research sites have included natural and human-dominated landscapes in Arkansas, along the Mississippi River, on the Gulf Coast in Florida, in the Neotropics, and at industrial shipping ports. Dr. Marsico’s research emphasizes making and using natural history collections to answer important questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation. He also studies improvements to university-level education using specimen-based projects in coursework. He has been a faculty member at Arkansas State University for 13 years, where he teaches Collections Curation and Research Design, Dendrology, Global Change Biology, Plant Systematics, and Wetland Plant Ecology. He is fortunate to be married to the love of his life with whom he is raising two wonderful children.

Department of State Profile

Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Office of the Geographer and Global Issues

Travis D. Marsico is an Intelligence Research Specialist in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of the Geographer and Global Issues, where he serves on the Multilateral and Transnational Issues and Human Rights Team (INR/GGI/MTR). Dr. Marsico works on a biodiversity portfolio to provide all-source analysis to policy clients interested in issues of nature crimes such as wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, and invasive species introductions; global biodiversity conservation; and biodiversity in the context of a rapidly changing climate. Dr. Marsico also supports colleagues on their science portfolios and has interests at the interface of nature and global food security. His products include written intelligence analysis and oral briefs for Department of State principals.