American botanist and herbarium curator at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Kerry Barringer is interested in the plants of the north-eastern United States and studies the taxonomy of New World Aristolochiaceae, Plantaginaceae, Scrophulariaceae and Orchidaceae. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was interested in biology and chemistry from a young age and always loved to be outdoors. Attending Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, Barringer took an interest in botany as an undergraduate while on a fieldtrip to Jamaica in 1975. Taking courses taught by Bruce King his attention turned towards the study of systematics and after his graduation with a BSc in 1976, it was this teacher who encouraged Barringer to continue on to graduate studies. At the University of Connecticut he prepared a master's thesis on the taxonomy and geography of the Aristolochia maxima L. complex (1980) and a revision of Angelonia Bonpl. (Scrophulariaceae) for a PhD which he was awarded in 1981. Both of these were conducted under Howard Pfeifer.
In 1981 Barringer was employed by the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago to undertake postdoctoral research for William Burger's Flora of Costa Rica project and Lorin I. Nevling Jr's Flora of Veracruz project. Moving to Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 1988 he has remained there ever since and currently (2011) occupies the position of Curator of the Herbarium. As well as curating the collection, Barringer is involved in the revision of New World members of the Aristolochiaceae, Plantaginaceae and Orchidaceae families and has published numerous papers in this field. Important works of his include revisions of Basistemon Turcz. (Scrophulariaceae), Gibsoniothamnus L.O. Williams (Schlegeliaceae) and the Epidendrum L. subgenus Epidanthus L.O. Williams (Orchidaceae), as well as the Aristolochiaceae monograph in Burger's Flora Costaricensis. Barringer's collecting activity has largely taken place in North America and he is a member of many botanical groups in the USA. Also interested in ecology and conservation Barringer is involved in surveying natural lands for state agencies and private conservation organizations in close association with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
Sources:
Personal communication, March 2011.
