From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 1, January 2023.
Botany gathered in-person on December 15th to say thanks and farewell to three long standing members of our department. Together, Bernadette Gibbons, Stan Yankowski, and Liz Zimmer have more than 110 years in service to the Smithsonian Institution. Several former fellows and interns joined us in celebrating their impact.
At a Department of Botany retirement party on 15 December 2022, Bernadette Gibbons (left), Stan Yankowski (middle), and Liz Zimmer (right) each receiving a gift from Botany staff in appreciation and celebration of their service to the Smithsonian. (photos by Shruti Dube)
Bernadette Gibbons joined the department as a Secretary in October 1994. For 28 years she was a constant presence in the front office, carrying out an ever-evolving list of administrative functions. She showed incredible dedication in helping not only staff, but also contractors and visitors in navigating the museum and departmental systems. Gibbons further served as a copyeditor for The Plant Press since 2011.
Stan Yankowski joined the department in November 1972 as a Museum Specialist. He jumped right into plant anatomy and was long responsible for the oversight of the anatomy lab in the Department of Botany. He also managed our vast wood collection and was responsible for many aspects of departmental safety. Over the past 50 years, he trained and assisted a huge number of researchers with plant anatomy techniques and has left some big shoes to fill.
Liz Zimmer joined the Smithsonian in June 1990. She was recruited by the National Museum of Natural History to bridge the Department of Botany and the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics at the Museum Support Center, but she later transitioned to the museum. As one of the pioneers in DNA-based molecular phylogenetics, she played a critical role in bringing the department and the museum into the molecular era. She has been honored with the Dobzhansky Prize, conferred by Society for the Study of Evolution (1982), a Radcliffe Fellowship, conferred by Harvard University (2004–2005), an NSF Visiting Fellowship for Women (1993–1995), and a Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Award (2020). She has served as the Editor-in-Chief for the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution since 2018. Her collaborative spirit has had an outsized impact on students, interns, fellows, and staff over the past 32 years.
Botany is grateful to Bernadette, Stan, and Liz for their service to the department, the museum, and the greater scientific community. They are a testament to the great things that can be accomplished in working together. We wish them all the best in retirement.