Press Release, 08/25/2011

NTBG to Honor Scientist Who ‘Wrote the Book’
Renowned botanist and author recognized for his contributions

Kalāheo, Kaua‘i, HI USA (August 25, 2011) ― The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) announced today that it will bestow one of its highest scientific honors to a British-Australian botanist, historian, educator, and author. Dr. David J. Mabberley has been named the 2011 recipient of the Robert Allerton Award for Excellence in Tropical Botany or Horticulture. A medal will be presented to Mabberley on September 18 in San Francisco during NTBG’s Board of Trustees meetings.

The Allerton Award recognizes specific achievements or a lifetime of achievements in tropical plant science. “Professor Mabberley has made enormous contributions to science and education, and has reached plant lovers who wish to explore and better understand their world,” said Chipper Wichman, NTBG’s Director and CEO. “Through his published works and extraordinarily active career he has enriched the lives of countless people in so many countries, all the while protecting plant life far and wide.”

Mabberley literally 'wrote the book' on plants. His internationally acclaimed Mabberley’s Plant-Book: A portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses is considered an indispensable reference guide to more than 24,000 entries. The book is widely popular with scientific and non-scientific readers. Well-known botanist and conservationist Dr. Peter Raven has said that he could think of no more useful reference in the whole field of botany. As an author, Prof. Mabberley’s works are not restricted to academia and scientific communities, but often target general readers, an approach that reflects his recognition of the important role the public plays in effecting change in behavior and policy.

Over the course of his career, Mabberley has discovered, described, or named more than 200 taxa of plants. During this time, he has lectured around the world on taxonomic theory, biogeography, ecology, botanical art, plant history, plant disease, agriculture, forestry, the role of botanic gardens in society, and various other aspects of biology and horticulture. The professor has written extensively on plant-related topics within scientific and environmental fields for both popular and peer-reviewed journals as well as print, web, television, and radio media.

The Robert Allerton Award is named after one of NTBG’s founding trustees and its principal initial benefactor, and consists of a bronze medal and honorarium. Prof. Mabberley will be the 20th recipient, joining the ranks of other esteemed scientists, such as Sir Ghillean Prance and Dr. Alwyn Gentry.

Prof. Mabberley, upon hearing he had been selected to receive the Allerton Award, responded, “having visited NTBG and seen the great Allerton legacy, I am thrilled to be honored in this way, doubly so because the inspiration for my whole career in tropical botany was Prof. E.J.H. Corner, my doctoral advisor, who himself received the award in 1981.”

“We are pleased to pay tribute to a botanist as accomplished and respected as Prof. Mabberley,” Wichman remarked. “His Plant-Book in itself merits special recognition. Looking at his body of work as a whole, there is no one more deserving of this distinction.”

The National Tropical Botanical Garden is a not-for-profit, non-governmental institution with nearly 2,000 acres of gardens and preserves in Hawai‘i and Florida. Its mission is to enrich life through discovery, scientific research, conservation, and education by perpetuating the survival of plants, ecosystems, and cultural knowledge of tropical regions. NTBG is supported primarily through donations and grants.
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Photos and Contact Information for Prof. Mabberley Available:
Media contact: Janet L. Leopold, administration@ntbg.org, (808) 332-7324, ext. 213 or Jon Letman, jletman@ntbg.org, at NTBG Headquarters

Additional Background Information on Prof. Mabberley:

Current Position: Executive Director, New South Wales Royal Botanic Gardens Trust

Born in Gloucestershire, England, David J. Mabberley was educated at colleges in Cirencester, Oxford, and Cambridge. He completed a studentship program at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew before embarking on a career that is remarkable for its breadth and depth. In addition to specializing in tropical plant ecology, economic botany, and botanical history, Prof. Mabberley has conducted four decades worth of research and field work in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and North, South and Central America, and the Middle East, with extensive work in East Africa and Madagascar.

To date, Prof. Mabberley has written 16 books and over 280 scientific papers and popular articles. Well-known reference books include works related to historical and modern botanical art and history, tropical ecology, and systematics. Prof. Mabberley’s books include Tropical Rainforest Ecology, The Story of the Apple, Paradisus: Hawaiian Plant Watercolors by Geraldine King Tam, and Arthur Harry Church: The Anatomy of Flowers.

As an educator Prof. Mabberley has devised courses, programs, and associated learning materials for scientific bodies, primary school children, undergraduate and post graduate university students, gardening and tree clubs, and other groups as diverse as the International Botanical Congress and members of the United States military stationed in Britain. While at Wadham College Oxford, Prof. Mabberley served both as Dean and Senior Proctor while simultaneously holding academic posts and serving as a member of various committees and boards related to garden and university management, plant sciences, plant conservation, publishing, natural history museums and fine arts.

Prof. Mabberley’s academic and professional background is far-reaching, covering a vast range of plant-related topics, but he has given special attention to researching the systematics of the economically important plant families Rutaceae (citrus), Meliaceae (mahogany), Vitaceae (grape), and Labiatae (teak).

In addition to holding prestigious positions at Oxford University, the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, and the University of Western Sydney, Australia, over Prof. Mabberley’s 35-plus year professional career, he has served in more than two dozen positions including: tutor, lecturer, research fellow, faculty board member, department head, director, dean, curator, president, chairman, judge, external examiner, senior proctor, and chief executive officer of the not-for-profit organization Greening Australia (NSW) Inc.

From 2004-2008, the professor served as Director of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens before returning to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as Keeper (Director) of the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives. For three years (2008-2011), Prof. Mabberley was responsible for the world’s largest herbarium and fungarium, largest plant-science library, Kew’s Economic Botany Collection with more than 200,000 pieces of botanical art and two art galleries.

In August 2011 Prof. Mabberley departed Kew for Australia, where he has held dual British-Australian citizenship since 1999, to serve as Executive Director of the New South Wales Royal Botanic Gardens Trust which comprises The Royal Botanic Garden and Domain (Sydney), The Australian Botanic Garden (Mt. Annan), The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden (Mt. Tomah) and The National Herbarium of New South Wales.
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