Research

My first attempt at research is when I collected observations of leaf size and shape of the high bush blueberry during an ecology field course in the Cascade Mountains in 1963.  After returning from the south Pacific I took an expanding interest in the evolution of the heather family (common in the Cascades and New Zealand) into the lab with a mostly unsupervised research project using serological techniques to compare seed proteins.  That led to work with David Fairbrothers at Rutgers, finishing in 1970, and added to my contributions applying immunological techniques in plant tissue culture at Ohio State, with Rod Sharp and Don Dougal. However, I was very unsatisfied with the laboratory work inside of a new building with no windows. Despite the opportunities in research (the beginning of plant biotechnology), I accepted the position at the University of Malaya.  My experiences there, 1973-76, re-oriented my research towards questions related to plant functional ecology, principally in tropical forests.  I followed those research interests At Florida International University until my retirement in 2009, some 35 years.  These research questions usually involved plant responses to light environments and were often about phenomena that were esthetically beautiful.  So, not only were the natural environments beautiful where I studied or collected plants for later research in the laboratory, but so were the plants (and usually leaf traits) stunningly so, and they are illustrated in the headings under Highlights. I also include a vita and full list of publications. Click on those terms and you will find that information.