Ken Sweat
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Phone: 602-543-6938
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CLCC 213 PHOENIX, AZ 85069-2352
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Mail code: 2352Campus: West
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Ken G. Sweat joined the faculty of ASU’s west campus in the fall of 2000. Before joining ASU he worked in the environmental resource consulting industry as well as being a partner in an ecotour company. He earned his master’s degree in botany from ASU in 1995 and his doctorate in plant biology from ASU in 2010.
Currently Dr. Sweat is teaching upper division plant biology courses and the undergraduate research class. He has facilitated numerous student driven research projects in forensic botany and environmental sciences. His forensic botany research projects include work with stomata, pollen, diatoms and fungi. His environmental projects involve using plants to remediate metal pollution in soils. Past projects included research that examined the capsaicin content of chili peppers.
Outside of the traditional classroom, Dr. Sweat has taught numerous courses for life-long learners on a range of topics from tequila to climate change to the boojum tree. He teaches these courses for institutions such as the Desert Botanical Garden and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at ASU.
- Ph.D. Plant Biology, Arizona State University 2010
- Master’s Degree. Botany, Arizona State University 1995
Dr. Sweat’s research is largely driven by the undergraduate students that work with him.
Dr. Sweat’s research interests are in two broad areas. The first is the use of plants and traditionally related taxa in forensic investigations: forensic botany. Examples of research projects that students have undertaken with Dr. Sweat include using diatom succession to determine how long a body had been in a lake, fungal succession on pork flesh as a model for human succession and pollen community analysis.
The other research area Dr. Sweat has facilitated student research in is the use of plants to remediate metal contamination in soils. Examples of projects in this area in this area include research assessing native plants to remediate a uranium mine and assessing common annuals to help remediate recreational shooting ranges.
Currently Dr. Sweat has a team of students working on research that combines both areas of interest that involves comparing stomatal density and the stomatal index of plants living inside urban areas to the same species living in rural areas.
Wetle, R., B. Bensko-Tarsitano, K. Johnson, K. G. Sweat, & T. Cahill. 2020. Uptake of uranium into desert plants in an abandoned uranium mine and its implications for phytostabilization strategies. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 220–221: 106293
Sweat, K.G., P. Marshal, J. Foltz-Sweat, & J. Broatch. 2018. Developing a Course-Based Research Experience for Undergraduates: The ASU West Experience. Journal of the Arizona Nevada Academy of Sciences. 47(2):36-43.
Sweat, K.G., J. Broatch, C. Borror, K. Hagan, & T. Cahill. 2016. Variability in capsaicinoid content and Scoville heat ratings of commercially grown Jalapeño, Habanero and Bhut Jolokia peppers. Food Chemistry. 210: 606-612.
Gremillion, P.T., E. Hermosillo, K.G. Sweat, and J.V. Cizdziel, 2013. Variations in mercury concentration within and across Xanthoparmelia spp. individuals: Implications for evaluating histories of contaminant loading and data interpretation. Environmental Chemistry.10(5):395-402. 25 October.
Riddell, J., S. Jovan, P.E. Padgett and K.G. Sweat. 2011. Tracking lichen community composition changes due to declining air quality over the last century: the Nash legacy in Southern California. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. 106: 263-277.
Sweat, K.G., P. T. Gremillion and T.H. Nash. 2010. Mercury concentrations in the lichen Xanthoparmelia spp. in the greater Grand Canyon region of Arizona, USA. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. 105: 93-102.
Bates, S.T., T.H. Nash, K.G. Sweat, and F. Garcia-Pichel. 2010. Fungal communities of lichen-dominated biological soil crusts: Diversity, relative microbial biomass, and their relationship to disturbance and crust cover. Journal of Arid Environments.74:1192-1199.
Divakar, Pradeep K., A. Crespo, F. Kauff, R. Del Prado, S. Perez-Ortega, G. Amo De Paz, Z. Ferencova, O. Blanco, A. Arguello, A. Millanes, M. C. Molina, M. P. Normore, M. A. Wedin, A. Aptroot, F. Bungartz, S. Calvelo, M. Candan, M. Cole, J. A. Elix, D. Ertz, B. Goffinet, A. Knight, J. Lendemer, L. Lindblom, R. Luecking, F. Lutzoni, J. Mattsson, M. I. Messuti, G. Perlmutter, V. J. Rico, T. Spribille, U. P. Steffen, K. Sweat, A. Thell, G. Thor, G. Urbanavichus, and T. Lumbsch. July 2008. New systematics and generic circumscription or parmelioid lichens inferred from multigene analysis provided by PARSYS-08. Paper presented at the 6th IAL Symposium and Annual ABLS meeting. Pacific Grove, Ca., USA
Marshall, P.A. and K. G. Sweat. 2008. Integrating Mathematics into Microbiology: Statistical Analysis of Biology Community Level Phenotype Profiling. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences. 40(2):157-159.
Sweat, K.G., W. A. Iselin, S. T. Bates and T.H. Nash III. 2004. The Lichens of Parashant National Monument, Arizona: A Preliminary Study. Journal of the Arizona Nevada Academy of Science 37(2):85-90.
CURE as a Research Experience for All: Preparing the Future STEM Workforce. Marshall, P.A., Broatch, J., Cahill, T.C., Foltz-Sweat, J.L., Sweat, K.G. NSF 15-585 (7/1/2016 – 6/30/2019).
An Integrated Core Curriculum of Cell Biology, Genetics, and Ecology Using the Desert Tree Lizard as a Thematic Organism. Dennis, D.E., Deutch, C., Kwiatkowski, M.A., Marshall, P.A., Sweat, K.G. NSF-EHR (9/15/2004 – 8/31/2007).
Development of Laboratory Experiments and Lecture Material for the Introductory Biology course (BIO 187/188). Internal Staff Development Grant. Arizona State University at the west campus. Summer 2002.
Courses
2025 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 486 | Peer Mentoring in STEM |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 502 | Advanced Forensic Botany |
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 493 | Honors Thesis |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 585 | Capstone I in Biol Data Sci |
LSC 586 | Capstone II in Biol Data Sci |
PLB 310 | The Flora of Arizona |
PLB 310 | The Flora of Arizona |
2024 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 181 | General Biology I |
LSC 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PTX 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ENV 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 492 | Honors Directed Study |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 486 | Peer Mentoring in STEM |
LSC 388 | STEM Research Fundamentals |
PLB 302 | Plants and Civilization |
FOR 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ENV 302 | Plants and Civilization |
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2024 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 585 | Capstone I in Biol Data Sci |
LSC 586 | Capstone II in Biol Data Sci |
2024 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 502 | Forensic Botany |
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 394 | Special Topics |
FOR 394 | Special Topics |
PLB 394 | Special Topics |
PLB 394 | Special Topics |
LSC 585 | Capstone I in Biol Data Sci |
FOR 493 | Honors Thesis |
PTX 493 | Honors Thesis |
2023 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 181 | General Biology I |
PTX 492 | Honors Directed Study |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ENV 494 | Special Topics |
LSC 362 | The Human Environment |
FOR 493 | Honors Thesis |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PLB 494 | Special Topics |
LSC 388 | STEM Research Fundamentals |
2023 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 502 | Forensic Botany |
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 493 | Honors Thesis |
FOR 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 388 | STEM Research Fundamentals |
PLB 310 | The Flora of Arizona |
2022 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
FOR 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PLB 302 | Plants and Civilization |
ENV 302 | Plants and Civilization |
ENV 494 | Special Topics |
ENV 494 | Special Topics |
LSC 598 | Special Topics |
LSC 598 | Special Topics |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2022 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2022 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 502 | Forensic Botany |
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 394 | Special Topics |
FOR 394 | Special Topics |
LSC 388 | STEM Research Fundamentals |
PLB 388 | STEM Research Fundamentals |
PLB 394 | Special Topics |
PLB 394 | Special Topics |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2021 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 201 | Human Anatomy/Physiology I |
LSC 388 | STEM Research Fundamentals |
PLB 494 | Special Topics |
ENV 494 | Special Topics |
LSC 362 | The Human Environment |
FOR 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 598 | Special Topics |
2021 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2021 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 486 | Peer Mentoring in STEM |
LSC 493 | Honors Thesis |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 493 | Honors Thesis |
LSC 362 | The Human Environment |
ENV 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 502 | Forensic Botany |
PLB 310 | The Flora of Arizona |
PLB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2020 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 486 | Peer Mentoring in STEM |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ENV 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PLB 302 | Plants and Civilization |
LSC 388 | Research for Natural Sciences |
ENV 302 | Plants and Civilization |
ENV 494 | Special Topics |
ENV 494 | Special Topics |
LSC 598 | Special Topics |
LSC 598 | Special Topics |
2020 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 182 | General Biology II |
LSC 493 | Honors Thesis |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 493 | Honors Thesis |
LSC 362 | The Human Environment |
ENV 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 486 | Peer Mentoring in STEM |
LSC 486 | Peer Mentoring in STEM |
STP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
FOR 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PLB 394 | Special Topics |
FOR 394 | Special Topics |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
LSC 499 | Individualized Instruction |