Helen Kennedy (botanist)
American botanist (born 1944)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Helen Kennedy (born 1944) is an American botanist, botanical collector, and expert of the Marantaceae family.[1][2] Several taxa have been named after Kennedy, such as Amphitecna kennedyae (A.H.Gentry)[3] and Spathiphyllum kennedyae Croat.[4] In 2011, Kennedy received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Society of Woman Geographers.
Education
Kennedy was born in Riverside, California.[2] She has a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in botany from the University of California, Davis. She also has a doctoral degree from University of California.[2]
Career
Kennedy has worked at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and has served as curator of the Summit Canal Zone Herbarium in Panama.[5] She has also worked as Curator of the Summit Herbarium at the Missouri Botanical Garden.[6] Kennedy has also worked for the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg and the Chicago Field Museum.[7][8] As of 2007 she was an active collector for the University of British Columbia (UBC) herbarium, contributing 1,000 specimens since 1969.[9] She has also been Honorary Curator of Vascular Plants at the UBC herbarium.[10] As of 2016 she was herbarium research associate at the University of California at Riverside.[5]
Awards and recognition
Selected publications
- Kennedy, Helen. "Diversification in pollination mechanisms in the Marantaceae." Monocots: systematics and evolution 2 (2000): 335-343.
- Kennedy, Helen. Systematics and pollination of the "closed-flowered" species of Calathea (Marantaceae). Vol. 71. Univ of California Press, 1978.
