George Yatskievych, Ph.D., curator of the Science and Conservation Division of the Missouri Botanical Garden, has been selected to receive a Trustees Award presented by the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Science-St. Louis. The presentation will be held during the academy's annual dinner on Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2014, at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, 212 N. Kingshighway Blvd, St Louis.
On behalf of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Botanical Garden Yatskievych recently had completed the final volume of a three part series updating the work of the late Julian Steyermark's Flora of Missouri. Originally published in 1963 Steyermark's work, the principal reference on plant life in Missouri, was in serious need of revision. Steyermark's Flora of Missouri was intended to be a reference tool for professionals in biology and related fields as well as a large group of dedicated amateur botanists and naturalists.
In the revised edition of volume one published in February 1999 all new illustrations (not photographs) and simplified maps generated from a computerized database of specimens are included. The keys to families, genera, species and infra specific taxa have been streamlined and morphological descriptions have been added to the text that originally included 801 species of fern allies, conifers, and monocots. Taxonomic changes and additions are documented in a lengthy bibliography.
Volume One also includes a series of introductory chapters that summarize the state's climate, geology, vegetation and flora, as well as changes since publication of the first edition. A history of the floristic botany in Missouri commemorates the numerous men and women who have contributed to knowledge of the state's flora. A glossary and a "how to" section complete the background materials in the book.
Volume two, containing more than 900 species of dicots in the families Acanthaceae through Fabaceae, was published in June 2006 and volume three, a further interpretation of the vascular plants of Missouri and surrounding states, was completed in August 2013. Both are considered necessary reading for any serious student of botany. The three volumes containing a total of over 3500 pages currently are sold separately or as a set on Amazon.com for $137.80.
Who is George Yatskievych?
George Yatskievych was born in Germany, an army brat, who developed an interest in botany after his family settled in southern Arizona. He earned undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Arizona before completing doctoral studies at Indiana University, where he met his wife and botanical partner, Kay.
In 1987, he became director of the Flora of Missouri Project. A botanist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, he is also curator of Missouri plants at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where his project is headquartered. A specialist in North American floristics and fern taxonomy, he also edits the American Fern Society's American Fern Journal and as a recent pst president co-edits the Missouri Native Plant Society's Missouriensis. He has published more than 50 scientific papers and oversaw many other scientific works.
Yatskievych shares the spotlight for a trustees award with Michael Cosmospoulos, Ph.D., professor in Greek studies and archaeology and director of the Ikiaina Archaeological Project and of Excavations at Eleusis-University of Missouri-St. Louis. Other outstanding science awards will be made during the event. For a full list of awardees go here. Go Back |