Biography

American botanist at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Steven Earl Clements was born in Minnesota and spent part of his youth in that state and part in Illinois, developing a particular love of wildflowers; an interest nurtured by his mother. In 2006 this early passion resurfaced when he co-authored the popular field guide, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States (with Carol Gracie). On beginning university in the 1970s, however, he decided to study computer science. His inclination towards the outdoors soon changed his mind, though, and he switched his major to botany. The dual subjects gave Clemants the skills to develop important botanical databases later on in his career.

Graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1976, he went on to take a master's degree in botany and horticulture (1979) and then moved on to City University New York and the New York Botanical Garden to take his doctorate. He worked at NYBG with curator James Luteyn, contributing to his research on the neotropical members of the Ericaceae, particularly Bejaria, and making his first trips to South America.

While working towards his PhD (granted in 1984) Clemants met a volunteer tour guide at NYBG, Grace Markman, whom he married. In 1985 the pair moved to Albany, New York, where Clemants was appointed botanist with the New York Natural Heritage Program, searching out rare plants in the area. He developed interests in the rush family (Juncaceae) and Chenopodiaceae over these years, and later at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden took up the flags of urban ecology and conservation.

He was taken on at BBG in 1989 as a research taxonomist and promoted to senior positions as time went by, serving as Director of Science for a period. He founded the Garden's New York Metropolitan Flora scheme, which became a model for studying plants in urban areas, and taught at Rutgers and City universities in New York, as well as publishing numerous research papers during his time at BBG. He was an active conservationist, serving as president of the Nature Network, chair of the Invasive Plant Council of New York State and co-director of the BBG-Rutgers partnership, the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology, among other memberships and roles including editing the e-journal Urban Habitats. Before he died, Clemants brokered a deal between the NYC Parks Department and BBG jointly committing resources to conserving the city's native plants. He was reputedly an extremely kind and helpful man and is honoured in the Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund.

Biography

American botanist at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Steven Earl Clements was born in Minnesota and spent part of his youth in that state and part in Illinois, developing a particular love of wildflowers; an interest nurtured by his mother. In 2006 this early passion resurfaced when he co-authored the popular field guide, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States (with Carol Gracie). On beginning university in the 1970s, however, he decided to study computer science. His inclination towards the outdoors soon changed his mind, though, and he switched his major to botany. The dual subjects gave Clemants the skills to develop important botanical databases later on in his career.

Graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1976, he went on to take a master's degree in botany and horticulture (1979) and then moved on to City University New York and the New York Botanical Garden to take his doctorate. He worked at NYBG with curator James Luteyn, contributing to his research on the neotropical members of the Ericaceae, particularly Bejaria, and making his first trips to South America.

While working towards his PhD (granted in 1984) Clemants met a volunteer tour guide at NYBG, Grace Markman, whom he married. In 1985 the pair moved to Albany, New York, where Clemants was appointed botanist with the New York Natural Heritage Program, searching out rare plants in the area. He developed interests in the rush family (Juncaceae) and Chenopodiaceae over these years, and later at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden took up the flags of urban ecology and conservation.

He was taken on at BBG in 1989 as a research taxonomist and promoted to senior positions as time went by, serving as Director of Science for a period. He founded the Garden's New York Metropolitan Flora scheme, which became a model for studying plants in urban areas, and taught at Rutgers and City universities in New York, as well as publishing numerous research papers during his time at BBG. He was an active conservationist, serving as president of the Nature Network, chair of the Invasive Plant Council of New York State and co-director of the BBG-Rutgers partnership, the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology, among other memberships and roles including editing the e-journal Urban Habitats. Before he died, Clemants brokered a deal between the NYC Parks Department and BBG jointly committing resources to conserving the city's native plants. He was reputedly an extremely kind and helpful man and is honoured in the Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund.

Biography

American botanist at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Steven Earl Clements was born in Minnesota and spent part of his youth in that state and part in Illinois, developing a particular love of wildflowers; an interest nurtured by his mother. In 2006 this early passion resurfaced when he co-authored the popular field guide, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States (with Carol Gracie). On beginning university in the 1970s, however, he decided to study computer science. His inclination towards the outdoors soon changed his mind, though, and he switched his major to botany. The dual subjects gave Clemants the skills to develop important botanical databases later on in his career.

Graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1976, he went on to take a master's degree in botany and horticulture (1979) and then moved on to City University New York and the New York Botanical Garden to take his doctorate. He worked at NYBG with curator James Luteyn, contributing to his research on the neotropical members of the Ericaceae, particularly Bejaria, and making his first trips to South America.

While working towards his PhD (granted in 1984) Clemants met a volunteer tour guide at NYBG, Grace Markman, whom he married. In 1985 the pair moved to Albany, New York, where Clemants was appointed botanist with the New York Natural Heritage Program, searching out rare plants in the area. He developed interests in the rush family (Juncaceae) and Chenopodiaceae over these years, and later at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden took up the flags of urban ecology and conservation.

He was taken on at BBG in 1989 as a research taxonomist and promoted to senior positions as time went by, serving as Director of Science for a period. He founded the Garden's New York Metropolitan Flora scheme, which became a model for studying plants in urban areas, and taught at Rutgers and City universities in New York, as well as publishing numerous research papers during his time at BBG. He was an active conservationist, serving as president of the Nature Network, chair of the Invasive Plant Council of New York State and co-director of the BBG-Rutgers partnership, the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology, among other memberships and roles including editing the e-journal Urban Habitats. Before he died, Clemants brokered a deal between the NYC Parks Department and BBG jointly committing resources to conserving the city's native plants. He was reputedly an extremely kind and helpful man and is honoured in the Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund.