From Plant Press Vol. 15 no. 4
By Warren L. Wagner
“Focus on the future and think big” was perhaps the most fundamentally enduring piece of advice given to all museum staff by Dr. Cristián Samper as he wrapped up his nine year tenure as Director of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) this past July. While these visionary words can certainly serve as a principle for our own departmental level planning initiatives they also reveal the essential nature of Cristián’s gracious influence and generous support within the Department of Botany over the past decade. Under his dedicated and enthusiastic leadership the department recruited two highly productive research scientists, hired two collections support staff, and laid the foundation to re-build the department and position it for long-term stability through a strategic hiring initiative. Through the years matching funds from the Director’s office allowed the department to leverage the Cuatrecasas Fellowship awards by extending additional research grants to deserving students and visiting researchers. Moreover, he unreservedly supported the continuation of the Biological Diversity of the Guiana Shield Program and actively participated in the international conference on the Evolution of Life on Pacific Islands and Reefs held in Hawaii in 2011. We remain very grateful to Cristián for his friendship, exceptional leadership, and scientific expertise in tropical botany.
Looking ahead, we eagerly await the arrival of Dr. Kirk Johnson on October 19th as the next Director of NMNH. In his previous capacity at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Kirk provided administrative and scientific oversight at multiple levels. Although Kirk is likely more well-known for his geologic and vertebrate paleontologic research he holds graduate degrees in paleobotany and actively studies the fossil plants of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. We look forward to working with Kirk in the years ahead to advance a broad spectrum of departmental research and collections initiatives. Among the activities of his first week at NMNH will be a tour of the department. Please join me in welcoming him to the museum and the Department of Botany.
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