From the forthcoming Plant Press, Vol. 24, No. 3, July 2021.
Dr. Maria Anna Faust, research botanist emerita from the Department of Botany, passed away on April 24, 2021 at the age of 91 from medical complications related to stroke.
Faust specialized in tropical marine dinoflagellate taxonomy and ecology. Born in Hungary, she received a BA (1951) from the Agricultural University of Budapest. Shortly after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, she fled to Yugoslavia with her husband and infant daughter. There they lived in a refugee camp for 20 months before immigrating to the United States. She then earned her MS (1962) in microbiology at Rutgers University and her PhD (1970) in aquatic microbiology at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Faust began her Smithsonian career at the Radiation Biology Laboratory (SRBL) in Rockville, MD in 1973. After this laboratory was closed and staff reassigned, she worked at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, MD and ultimately joined in 1987 the Botany Department, National Museum of Natural History-Museum Support Center in Suitland, MD, where she worked until her retirement in 2009. In her 40 year career, she published over 120 research papers. Her most notable publication is “Identifying Harmful Marine Dinoflagellates” (Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 42: 1-144; 2002). In 2004, Faust received the Award of Excellence by the Phycological Society of America. And in 2010, she was a co-recipient of the Tyge Christensen Award for the best paper published in Phycologia in 2009 for a monograph on the toxic dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus.
Faust was a mentor and a great source of inspiration for many microbiologists and phytoplankton taxonomists, not just those starting their scientific research but also those well established in their careers. Her microscope skills (Scanning Electron Microscope, light and dissecting) were impressive, detailed, and artistic. Her eagerness to share her knowledge and passion for dinoflagellate research has left a lasting impression on many. Her wisdom, kindness, and eagerness to help others will always be remembered.
Faust, predeceased by her husband Dr. Miklos Faust, is survived by her daughter, Judit Quasney and son-in-law Thomas Quasney of Silver Spring, MD, her grandchildren, Evan Quasney of Mercer Island, WA, Daniel Quasney of Washington, DC, and two great grandchildren.
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