Patricia Kern Holmgren

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Patricia Kern Holmgren
Patricia Kern Holmgren in 1971
Born1940
Athens, Indiana, U.S.
NationalityUSA
Alma mater
SpouseNoel H. Holmgren
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
Institutions
Doctoral advisorCharles Leo Hitchcock
Author abbrev. (botany)P.K. Holmgren

Patricia May Holmgren (née Kern; born 1940) is an American botanist. Holmgren's main botanical interests are the flora of the U.S. intermountain west and the genera Tiarella and Thlaspi. Holmgren was the director of the herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden from 1981–2000, and editor of Index Herbariorum from 1974–2008.[1]

Life

Patricia May Kern was born to Robert Evan Kern (1919–2004) and Ruth Eleanor Beaudoin Kern (1921–1992) in 1940, in Athens, Indiana.[2] Her parents began raising Christmas trees in 1946, and Holmgren spent part of her summers trimming trees and weekends in the fall and winter helping with the business.[1] Holmgren was introduced to nature at an early age; through her father's conservation work on their property, and during family vacations to western national parks during the farm's off-season. From fifth grade to her high school graduation, Holmgren was active in 4-H, winning many contests in forestry and sewing.[2]

Holmgren attended high school at Rochester High School in Rochester, Indiana, graduating in 1958 as valedictorian.[3] Holmgren attended Indiana University, getting a B.S. in 1962. She later attended the University of Washington, completing a M.S. in 1964 and a Ph.D. in 1968.[4] At the University of Washington, Holmgren completed a systematic study of Tiarella (Saxifragaceae) with advisor Arthur R. Kruckeberg.[2]

She remained at the

Thlaspi montanum (Brassicaceae) group, with advisor C. Leo Hitchcock. In addition to her own research, Holmgren became chief editorial assistant during the preparation of the last two volumes of the Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest with Hitchcock.[2]

Patricia married fellow botanist Noel H. Holmgren (son of botanist Arthur H. Holmgren) in 1969.[1]

Career

A group photo of 5 herbarium employees, standing in front of a large pile of specimens in boxes
Patricia Holmgren (front) with fellow New York Botanical Garden herbarium staff (behind, L to R): Lois Brako, Barbara Thiers, Bill Buck, & Jim Grimes.

After completing her Ph.D. at the University of Washington, Holmgren accepted a job as herbarium specialist at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) in 1968. Holmgren spent her entire working career at NYBG, eventually becoming the Director of the Herbarium in 1981, a position she held until her retirement in 2000.[4] As director of The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, Holmgren insisted on the highest possible standards for specimen management and for keeping the herbarium in the forefront on new innovations (such as the creation of an online Index Herbariorum and development of the C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium).[5] Holmgren was also instrumental in conception, fundraising, and design of a new, state-of-the-art building to house the herbarium, the International Plant Science Center, which officially opened for research in 2002.[1][6] Holmgren continues to work at the garden as Director Emerita of the herbarium. In addition to her herbarium leadership, Holmgren played an active role in a number of botanical societies and botanical journals:[1][4]

Patricia Holmgren and Noel Holmgren were instrumental to the completion of Intermountain Flora: Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A., a nine-volume flora on the vascular plants of the western United States between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada ranges. In addition to collecting many herbarium specimens that would provide the baseline data for descriptions and geographic distributions; Patricia was involved in editing, proofreading, and writing family treatments for the flora.[1]

Awards

Legacy

In 2009, botanists W.L.Wagner & Hoch published Neoholmgrenia is a genus of flowering plants from Canada and western USA, belonging to the family Onagraceae and named in her honour.[11]

Plant species named after Patricia Holmgren

Selected publications

The standard author abbreviation P.K.Holmgren is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[19]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-89327-546-4
    .
  2. ^
    OCLC 864358652.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  3. ^ "Misses Kern, Van Lue Leading RHS Scholars". Rochester Sentinel. February 19, 1958.
  4. ^ a b c Curriculum Vitae, Patricia K. Holmgren (2017). Folder Patricia Kern Holmgren, NYBG Vertical File, The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, The New York Botanical Garden. October 10, 2018.
  5. OCLC 864358652.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  6. S2CID 40405383
    .
  7. ^ "Distinguished Fellow of the Botanical Society of America". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  8. ^ "The Botanical Society of America "Centennial Award"". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  9. S2CID 84743781
    .
  10. ^ "Gold Medal Recipients". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  11. ^ "Neoholmgrenia W.L.Wagner & Hoch | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  12. S2CID 84118361
    .
  13. ^ "Scrophulariaceae". Flora of Ecuador. 21: 158–159. 1984.
  14. ISSN 1934-5259
    .
  15. ^ Anderson, Christiane E. (2013). "Six new species of Hiraea (Malpighiaceae) from South America". Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. 108: 211–212.
  16. ISSN 0024-9637
    .
  17. JSTOR 2419727
    .
  18. S2CID 84928102
    .
  19. ^ International Plant Names Index.  P.K.Holmgren.

External links

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