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Gentry, Alwyn Howard (Al) (1945-1993)

Date Updated: 19 April 2013

Herbarium
Natural History Museum (BM)
Collection
Plant Collectors
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Contributor
Natural History Museum (BM)
First name(s)
Alwyn Howard (Al)
Last name
Gentry
Initials
A.H.(A.)
Life Dates
1945 - 1993
Collecting Dates
1971 - 1993
Specification
Plant collector
Groups collected
Bryophytes Pteridophytes Spermatophytes
Organisation(s)
MO (main), A, AAU, AMAZ, ARIZ, BM, BR, BRH, BRIT, C, CAS, CHI (currently F), CHOCO, COL, CR, CUVC, DAV, DES, DSM, DUKE, EA, F, FHO, G, GA, GENT, GH, HUA, HUT, IBE, INPA, K, LE, LEA, LG, LL (currently TEX), LMA, LPB, MEXU, MG, MPU, MYF, NCU, NLH, NY, P, PMA, PRE, PSO, PTBG, PTGB, Q, QAME, QCA, QCNE, R, RPSC, S, SBBG, SEL, SRGH, TAN, TEX, UMO, UPS, US, USM, VEN, WAG, WIS
Countries
Tropical South America: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, BoliviaCentral American Continent: Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, BelizeCaribbean region: CubaTropical Africa: Gabon, NigeriaMadagascan region: MadagascarTemperate South America: Paraguay, ArgentinaNorth American region: United StatesAustralasia: AustraliaBrazilian region: Brazil
Associate(s)
Alfaro Castañeda, D. (fl. 1977) (co-collector)
Almeida, B. (fl. 1985) (co-collector)
Andrade, E. (1953-) (co-collector)
Aronson, James (fl. 1970-2006) (co-collector)
Ayala Flores, Franklin (fl. 1974-1998) (co-collector)
Barbosa C., César E. (fl. 1976-1995) (co-collector)
Barbour, Philip J. (fl. 1975-1983) (co-collector)
Barnett, Lisa Ceryle (1959-) (co-collector)
Barrera, E. (fl. 1981) (co-collector)
Benavides, Olga Salazar de (1944-) (co-collector)
Benavides R., Servio Tulio (fl. 1947-1987) (co-collector)
Berry, Paul Edward (1952-) (co-collector)
Blaney, Carol (1960-) (co-collector)
Boyle, B. (co-collector)
Brand M., Jorge (fl. 1980-1984) (co-collector)
Brewer Carías, Charles (1938-) (co-collector)
Brunner, David Russell (1961-) (co-collector)
Burger, William Carl (1932-) (co-collector)
Bye Boettler, Robert Arthur (1947-) (co-collector)
Caicedo, J.D. (fl. 1986-1999) (co-collector)
Clewell, A. (co-collector)
Clewell, Andre Francis (1934-) (co-collector)
Cogollo Pacheco, Alvaro A. (fl. 1979-1997) (co-collector)
Cruz C., Salvador (1935-) (co-collector)
Cuadros Villalobos, Hermes (1953-) (co-collector)
Daly, Douglas Charles de Burgh (1953-) (co-collector)
D'Arcy, William Gerald (1931-1999) (co-collector)
Dávalos, J. (fl. 1987) (co-collector)
Davidse, Gerrit (1942-) (co-collector)
Diaz Celis, Angel (fl. 1992) (co-collector)
Díaz Santibanez, Camilo (1952-) (co-collector)
Dillon, Michael Owen (1947-) (co-collector)
Dodson, Calaway H. (1928-) (co-collector)
Dorr, Laurence Joseph (Larry) (1953-) (co-collector)
Dressler, Robert Louis (1927-) (co-collector)
Duke, James Alan (1929-) (co-collector)
Dwyer, John Duncan (1915-2005) (co-collector)
Fallen, Mary E. (fl. 1976-1983) (co-collector)
Farney, C. (fl. 1985) (co-collector)
Fernandes, Afrânio (1927-) (co-author, co-collector)
Ferrigni, Nelson R. (1943-) (co-collector)
Forero González, Enrique (1942-) (co-collector)
Franco, G. (fl. 1990) (co-collector)
Gamboa, J. (fl. 1985-1987) (co-collector)
Gómez, Fernando (fl. 1983) (co-collector)
Grijalva, Alfredo (1947-) (co-collector)
Haber, William A. (Bill) (1946-) (co-collector)
Hamilton, Clement W. (1954-) (co-collector)
Heredia, M.D. (fl. 1982) (co-collector)
Horna, M. (fl. 1980) (co-collector)
Jaramillo, Nestor (fl. 1978-1994) (co-collector)
Josse, C. (fl. 1993) (co-collector)
Juncosa, Andrian (fl. 1983) (co-collector)
Kallunki, Jacquelyn Ann (1948-) (co-collector)
Keating, P. (fl. 1988) (co-collector)
Keating, Richard Clark (1937-) (co-collector)
Ladrach, W. (fl. 1987-1987) (co-collector)
Lao, E.A. (1953-) (co-collector)
Lellinger, David Bruce (1937-) (co-collector)
Lent, Roy William (fl. 1972) (co-collector)
León B., Blanca (1957-) (co-collector)
León, Henry A. (fl. 1976-1983) (co-collector)
Libenson, S. (co-collector)
Lieberman, A. (fl. 1985) (co-collector)
Llanos, Fanny (fl. 1973-1974) (co-collector)
McPherson, Gordon Duane (1947-) (co-collector)
Manning, Sue (fl. 1987) (co-collector)
Mazuero, H. (fl. 1983-1997) (co-collector)
Meerow, Alan W. (1952-) (co-collector)
Miller, James Spencer (Jim) (1953-) (co-collector)
Monsalve Benavides, Miryam (1955-) (co-collector)
Morat, Phillippe (1937-) (co-collector)
Moreno, Pedro Pablo (1958-) (co-collector)
Mori, Scott A. (1941-) (co-collector)
Morillo, Beatriz de (fl. 1974) (co-collector)
Morillo, Gilberto N. (1944-) (co-collector)
Mulampy, M. (co-collector)
Neill, David A. (1953-) (co-collector)
Neumann, Roberto (fl. 1981-1993) (co-collector)
Olson, Mark Earl (1969-) (co-collector)
Ortiz, Rosa (fl. 1986) (wife)
Palací, Carlos Alberto (fl. 1985-1997) (co-collector)
Palacios, Walter A. (1959-) (co-collector)
Pérez, L. (fl. 1985) (co-collector)
Piñeros de Santana, Zulma (fl. 1976) (co-collector)
Quiñones, Luz Mila (fl. 1981-1988) (co-collector)
Rakotozafy, Armand (1932-) (co-collector)
Ramírez, B. (bis) (fl. 1988-1993) (co-collector)
Ramos, José Ferreira (fl. 1966-2001) (co-collector)
Rentería Arriaga, Enrique (fl. 1973-1992) (co-collector)
Restrepo, Carla (fl. 1985-1995) (co-collector)
Revilla, Juan (fl. 1976-1978) (co-collector)
Rubio, Daniel (fl. 1985-1994) (co-collector)
Salazar Chávez, Gerardo Adolfo (1961-) (co-collector)
Samper, C. (fl. 1988) (co-collector)
Sánchez, Darío (1947-) (co-collector)
Schatz, George Edward (1953-) (co-collector)
Schupp, G. (fl. 1979) (co-collector)
Silverstone-Sopkin, Philip Arthur (1939-) (co-collector)
Skog, Laurence Edgar (Larry) (1943-) (co-collector)
Smith, David Nelson (1945-1991) (co-collector)
Solomon, James Clinton (1952-) (co-collector)
Sousa Sánchez, Mario (1940-) (co-collector)
Stein, Berthold (1847-1899) (co-collector)
Stein, Bruce Alan (1955-) (co-collector)
Stern (fl. 1980) (co-collector)
Stevens, Warren Douglas (Doug) (1944-) (co-collector)
Sugden, A. (co-collector)
Teefs, T. (fl. 1984) (co-collector)
Thomas, Duncan W. (1950-) (co-collector)
Thompson, F. (fl. 1984) (co-collector)
Tillett, Stephen Szlatenyi (1930-) (co-collector)
Tyson, Edwin Louis (1920-1972) (co-collector)
Vásquez Martínez, Rodolfo (1956-) (co-collector)
Vera, Victor (fl. 1986-1987) (co-collector)
Wolfe, D. (fl. 1984) (co-collector)
Zardini, Elsa Matilde (1949-) (co-collector)
Zaruma, Jorge (1958-) (co-collector)
Barringer, Kerry A. (1954-) (co-collector)
Feuillet, Christian (1948-) (co-collector)
Biography
American botanist whose specialisations covered tropical vegetation patterns, conservation and the Bignoniaceae family. Born in Clay Center, Kansas, Alwyn Gentry began studying physics at Kansas State University before botany became his main focus. He was encouraged by his professors in the subject to attend a summer course in Costa Rica led by the Organization for Tropical Studies, which inspired in him an incredible passion for tropical plants. He went on to gain his Master's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his PhD from Washington University, St Louis, developing his specialisation in Bignoniaceae.

Gentry was immediately taken on after his doctorate at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where he was based for the rest of his career as botanist and latterly senior curator, and soon became a world authority on Latin American plants and ecological surveying. He particularly turned his attentions to northwestern South America, studying the tropical forests of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, their diversity and economic value. It was while working here that he founded Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program (R.A.P.) team with ornithologist Ted Parker. The team used the latest techniques to quickly assess biodiversity and identify plant species in threatened tropical areas, offering their results to those involved in conservation.

Recognised as a leading light in his field, honours conferred on Gentry included the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Society for Conservation Biology and a Pew Scholarship in Conservation and the Environment. Tragically, he died prematurely with his R.A.P. colleague, Parker, in a plane crash near Guayaquil, Ecuador, in August 1993. He left behind his wife, Rosa Ortiz de Gentry, and three children.

Gentry collected 80,000 plant specimens on scores of expeditions to no less than 35 tropical countries and published over 200 books and articles during his 25-year career, with many more left in progress at the time of his death. His Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of Northwest South America (1993) is a comprehensive reference work for field researchers and conservationists, using vegetative characteristics (bark, leaves and odour) instead of the only sometimes present flowers and fruits to aid identification. An annual award, the Parker Gentry Award, was instated by the Field Museum in Chicago honouring the remarkable achievements of the pair. It is awarded to an outstanding individual or team whose work has had a significant impact on conservation, giving important work greater publicity. Gentry is remembered fondly by his students and colleagues for an indefatigable enthusiasm and personable character.
References
Brummitt, R.K. & Powell, C.E., Authors Pl. Names (1992): 223; Dorr, L.J. Pl. Collectors Madagasc. Comoro Is. (1997): 174, 427; Knobloch, I.W., Phytologia Mem. 6 (1983): 31; Renner, S. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 82 (1993): 15;
Gentry, Alwyn Howard (Al) (1945-1993)
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