From Plant Press, Vol. 12, no. 3 from 2009.
Editor's Note
By Gary Krupnick, Editor
In this issue of the Plant Press, we begin a new series which profiles our Research Associates. There are currently 455 scientists holding a professional academic appointment at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. There are three different appointment types including Research Collaborator (162), Research Associate (251) and Adjunct Scientist (42). The term “Research Associate” is sometimes used collectively for all individuals awarded a professional academic appointment and who are part of the NMNH scientific community. Although active members of the scientific community, Research Associates are not employees of the Museum, but individuals who hold a formal scholarly affiliation with the Institution. The Department of Botany is currently hosting 41 academic appointments.
Research Associates play an integral part in the Department of Botany. They have an active role in furthering the mission of the Department: to discover the diversity of plant life in marine and terrestrial environments, to describe this diversity, to interpret the evolutionary origin of this diversity, to explain the processes responsible for this diversity, and to understand how humans are affected by and have altered plant diversity on the planet. Research Associates are those professionals who may be working independently within the National Museum of Natural History research and collection facilities or they may have formed formal and active collaborations with NMNH scientific staff through collaborative projects, proposal submission, and co-authored publications, and regularly use the NMNH research and collection facilities. Research Associates have achieved a degree, usually a doctorate, and are generally affiliated with a recognized academic institution as active or retired staff. They may also significantly contribute to the intellectual life of the Museum through their in-residence participation in the care and curation of the collections; active research and publication; service on NMNH and/or SI panels and committees; and mentoring of students working with NMNH scientific staff.
Some Research Associates have been in-residence for a few years while others have been here for a decade or two (or four!). Others may carry the title of Research Associate while being part of a research team in the field and may never have set foot in the Museum at all.
Our resident Research Associates have been very productive over the years. Within the past 3 years, they have either authored or co-authored approximately one-fifth of all scientific publications produced by the Department (2007: 28 of 117; 2006: 23 of 112; 2005: 19 of 112).
We kick off this series with an interview with Christian Feuillet, a Research Collaborator and Associate with the Department for over 20 years. His knowledge of Gesneriaceae and Passifloraceae has led to significant contributions to checklists and floras of the Neotropics, especially the Guiana Shield and the West Indies. The Department is fortunate to have Research Associates such as Feuillet participate and contribute so completely in our scientific endeavors.
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