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PRESS
RELEASE
For Immediate Distribution, June 11, 2010.
ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Drs. Robert Bye and Edelmira Linares are recipients of the
Society for Economic Botany Distinguished Economic Botanist Award.
Dr. Mary Eubanks, President of the Society for Economic Botany (SEB), announced
today that Drs. Robert Bye and Edelmira Linares are the recipients of the 2010
Distinguished Economic Botanist Award, the society's highest honor for professionals.
They were honored June 10th in a formal ceremony during the society's 51st
annual meeting in Xalapa, Mexico.
Dr. Robert Bye, Director Emeritus of the Botanical Garden of the Institute of Biology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, has conducted fieldwork with indigenous peoples and trained botany students in Mexico with his wife and colleague Dr. Edelmira Linares for over 30 years. Dr. Bye specializes in plant systematics and the ethnobotany of medicinal, edible, and ornamental plants of Latin America. He is recognized for his application of modern methods to identify medicinal plants of pharmaceutical value and his promotion of the sustainable use of native plant species to benefit local communities, plant domestication, and sustainable biodiversity management practices of indigenous groups in Mexico. Dr. Linares, also affiliated with the Botanical Garden of the Institute of Biology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, specializes in ethnobotanical research and teaching that focuses on medicinal plants, edible plants, ornamental plants, vegetable dyes, ritual plants, traditional agriculture. She is involved in educational programs that are guided by traditional plant knowledge gained through ethnobotany fieldwork in rural communities from which she generates teaching resources and products for the university’s botanical garden, herbarium, ethnobotany collection, and living plant collection. Then she goes back into the local communities to educate teachers and healers about biodiversity conservation, sustainable management of plant resources, and their ethnobotanical heritage. These resources and knowledge are rapidly being lost due to acculturation, Mexico’s accelerated economic growth with consequent urban expansion, and globalization. Drs. Bye and Linares’ educational programs and work with indigenous communities are an exemplar of how botanical gardens with their academic resources and conservation commitments can combine education, research, and community outreach to enhance in situ conservation and revitalize the indigenous knowledge base of native plant use. The goals of these innovative, interdisciplinary educational programs are to conserve native plant biodiversity and share the knowledge of local plant resources in order to benefit local communities and preserve their ethnic traditions for future generations.
In Will McClatchy’s introduction of the recipients of the 2010 Distinguished Economic Botany Award, he explained why we chose to honor them and why they are so beloved by the Society for Economic Botany: “Together they are unstoppable in at least four ways: First, they are constantly educating everyone around them about the importance of plants in our world. Second, they are documenting information at a staggering rate. It is very good that digital cameras came along or I am afraid to think about Bob's annual film budget. Third, they are an oasis of friendship. It is widely known among the botanical community that this couple has hosted dozens of people who have come to learn about and with the plants and peoples of Mexico. Fourth, and most importantly, this couple has regularly taken on challenges of supporting small communities by conducting research projects that could never lead to huge benefits for themselves, but could lead to the betterment of the lives of the people that have asked them for help. They have really dedicated their lives to helping rural communities in Mexico and it comes through in presentation after presentation.”
The Distinguished Economic Botanist Award, established in 1978, is bestowed
annually by the Society on the basis of outstanding education and research accomplishments.
The award represents the ultimate achievement in the field of Economic Botany.
The Society for Economic Botany is the largest international scientific organization
fostering and encouraging research and education on the past, present, and future
uses of plants by people.
For more information, please contact Dr. Heather McMillen, SEB Secretary, at
seb_secretary@botany.org, or phone
the society office at 001-314-577-9566.
Visit the Distinguished
Economic Botanists archive for more information.
PRESS RELEASE
For
Immediate Distribution, June 8, 2010.
ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Society
for Economic Botany names 2010 Klinger Book Award recipient.
 Dr.
Eve Emshwiller, President of the Society for Economic Botany, announced today Dr.
Cameron L. McNeil as the recipient of the 2008 Mary W. Klinger Book Award for
the publication she edited entitled The Amazonian Caboclo and the Acai Palm: Forest Farmers in the Global Market by Eduardo S. Brondizio, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University. Published by the New York Botanical Garden Press in 2008 as volume 16 of the Advances in Economic Botany series. The Klinger Book Award is among the society's
highest honors. Dr. McNeil will be honored in Xalapa, Mexico on June 10th at the society's annual meeting.
The Amazonian Caboclo and the Açaí Palm: Forest Farmers in the Global Market is a brilliant and engrossing account of the history, ecology, economics, politics, culture and much more of the palm Euterpe oleracea. While focused on a single species at the mouth of the Amazon River, the breadth and depth of analysis, nuanced consideration of local to global forces, and comprehensive review of dynamic environmental, market and management interactions over time are unsurpassed. The Amazonian Caboclo and the Açaí Palm is another outstanding contribution from the New York Botanical Garden Advances in Economic Botany series and Eduardo Brondízio deserves praise for setting a new standard in the study of people and plants.
Committee: Daniel F. Austin, Chair
Eric Boa, Mary Eubanks, John Rashford, Nancy Turner
The Mary W. Klinger Book Award
was established in 1996 and is annually awarded by the Society for an outstanding
book publication. The Society for Economic Botany is the largest international
scientific organization fostering and encouraging research and education on the
past, present, and future uses of plants by people.
For more information, please contact Dr.
Heather McMillen, SEB Secretary at seb_secretary@botany.org. Alternatively, please phone the Society office at 001-314-577-956.
Visit the Mary
W. Klinger Book Award archive for more information.
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