Name: Amanda Ingram
Your background: I grew up in Mt. Crawford, Virginia, a town of about 300 people in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. (It felt like I came full circle when I moved to another town named for a Crawford!) I did my undergraduate work at The College of William & Mary and earned my PhD at Cornell University. I’m married to Mark Elrod ’99, and we have two cats, four chickens, and a big garden.
Department and specialty at Wabash: I’m chair of the Biology Department and specialize in plant systematics, which means I’m interested in the evolutionary relationships and classification of plants.
Special involvement at Wabash: I’m an occasional part of the music scene on campus—Diane Norton and I have performed a wide range of music in a number of different venues during my time here. I’m also an avid fan of college basketball and can be found at most of the home games.
Favorite part of Wabash: I really love the sense of community on our campus.
Favorite place on the campus: It depends on the time of year! In early spring, it’s Petty’s Patch—it’s magical there when the spring ephemerals start popping up. In the fall, it’s under the ginkgo tree between Hays Hall and Detchon when it’s dropping its leaves—they all come down at once and make a gentle rustling sound as they fall. In the winter, it’s anywhere in the Arboretum…as long as there’s snow on the ground.
Favorite food: Anything Mark and I raise ourselves, but especially spring eggs from the backyard flock, strawberries and raspberries from our berry patches, and the first tomato of the summer.
Something most people don’t know about you: I’m an only child. Or maybe people had guessed that already? (Insert birth order stereotype here!)