Philip Barry Tomlinson
Harvard Forest, Harvard University
and National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kalaheo, HI
Petersham, MA 01366 USA.
978-724-3302 (voice)
3530 Papalina Road, Kalaheo, HI 96741
808-332-7324, ext. 233
pbtomlin@fas.harvard.edu
Present Positions
Eleanor Crum Professor of Tropical Botany, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai, HI 96741; E. C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology, Harvard University (Emeritus); and Research Collaborator, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami
Education
(1949-1955) University of Leeds, England
Degrees (earned): B. Sc. (First Class Honors) 1953; Ph.D. 1955 (Part of the
work for a doctoral thesis was carried out at the Jodrell Laboratory, Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, England.) Thesis Title (under the supervision of C. R.Metcalfe):
"Studies in the systematic anatomy of the Zingiberaceae"
Degrees (Hon): A.M. 1971, Harvard University; 1996, D. Sc., University of Guelph
Languages
Reading, speaking knowledge of French, Spanish, German; learning Italian
Professional Qualifications and Previous Appointments
| 1955-6 | Post-doctoral Research and Teaching Fellow University of Malaya and Botanic Gardens, Singapore (under the auspices of the Agricultural Research Council and the British Council) |
| 1956-9 | Lecturer in Botany, University College of the Gold Coast (subsequently University of Ghana), Ghana, West Africa |
| 1960-71 | Research Scientist, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, FL USA |
| 1965-71 | Research Fellow in Forest Anatomy, Maria Moors Cabot Foundation for Botanical Research, Harvard University (held jointly with Fairchild Tropical Garden appointment) |
| 1971-2001 | Professor of Biology, Harvard University (at Harvard Forest), Petersham, MA, USA |
| 1971-date | Research Collaborator, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, FL, USA |
| 1976 | Visiting Fellow, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| 1986 | Visiting Professor, University College, Dublin, Ireland |
| 1998 | McBryde Visiting Professor, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai, Hawaii USA |
| 2001 | Eleanor Crum Professor of Tropical Botany, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai, HI, USA |
Membership in Professional Societies
Fellow of Linnean Society, London
Botanical Society of America
International Association for Plant Taxonomy
Association for Tropical Biology
International Association of Wood Anatomists
General Research Activities and Interests (Summary)
- Morphology and anatomy of monocotyledons, with especial emphasis on tropical groups (Approximately 80 published research articles; 4 books)
- Studies of marine associated plants of the tropics -- seagrass (10 published articles), mangrove communities (13 published articles, 1 book)
- Morphology and biology of woody plants in the tropics (8 published articles, 2 books, 1 edited symposium volume)
- Quantification of plant form (5 published papers)
- Developmental morphology of conifers (10 published papers)
- Functional correlations between pollen structure and cone morphology in conifers (6 published papers)
Field Experience (Summary)
West Africa, S. E. Asia, South and Central Pacific, Caribbean, Central America, and Australasia especially New Zealand.
Plant groups and topics of special interest
Palms, mangroves, seagrasses, tropical monocotyledons, conifers, tree architecture, floral biology, functional morphology.
Teaching
Courses in introductory botany, development plant morphology and anatomy, plant reproductive biology, gymnosperm biology and tropical botany have been taught in the last three decades at Harvard. Currently associated with the College Professor's Kenan Foundation course at the National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Recent Honors
1996. D.Sc. University of Guelph, Canada (The first botanist to be awarded an
honorary degree at Guelph.)
1998 McBryde Visiting Professorship, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.
1999 Linnean Society Medal for Botany
2002 Cuatrecasas Medal in Tropical Botany, Smithsonian Institution
Current Research
1. Comparative stem anatomy in climbing monocotyledons, especially palms
2. Unusual distributions of gelatinous (reaction) fibers in seed plants
3. Seagrass morphology and anatomy
4. Gymnosperm versus angiosperm as mistaken concepts
Recent Publications
Tomlinson, P. B. and R. E. Spangler. 2002. Developmental features of the discontinuous vascular system in the rattan palm Calamus (Arecaceae-Calamoideae-Calamineae). American Journal of Botany 89: 1128-1141.
Tomlinson, P. B. and T. Takaso. 2002. Seed cone structure in conifers in relation to development and pollination: a biological approach. Canadian Journal of Botany 80: 1250-1273.
Tomlinson, P. B. and M. H. Zimmermann. 2003. Development of gelatinous (reaction) fibers in stems of Gnetum gnemon (Gnetales). American Journal of Botany 90 (In Press).
Tomlinson, P. B. 2002. The Biology of Trees Native to Tropical Florida. Second Edition. Pp. 395. Printed privately. Petersham, Massachusetts.
Posluszny, U. and P. B. Tomlinson. 2003. Aspects of inflorescence and floral development in the putative basal angiosperm Amborella trichopoda (Amborellaceae). Canadian Journal of Botany 81: 28-39.
Tomlinson, P. B. and M. H. Zimmermann. 2003. Stem vascular architecture in the American climbing palm Desmoncus (Arecaceae-Arecoideae-Bactridinae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 142: (In Press).