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Wm. Wayt Thomas: A Career in Botany

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Abstract

During a botanical career that has spanned more than 35 years – almost all that time based at The New York Botanical Garden –, Wm. Wayt Thomas has participated in over 100 field expeditions and published almost 200 scientific works including two edited volumes, advised or co-advised 15 doctoral students, and became one of the world authorities on the systematics of the Cyperaceae. His research programs set down roots in Brazil, where his work has led to major advances in our knowledge of the flora of the Atlantic Coastal Forests and had significant impacts on conservation in that region. He has held leadership positions in the Organization for Flora Neotropica and the Species Plantarum Project. He has made perhaps his greatest contributions in forging productive international scientific collaborations and in mentoring young scientists who are becoming leaders in the botanical community – and who attest to his pivotal impacts on their professional lives.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Luciano Soares, Jomar Jardim, Ana Carolina Costa and Daniel Piotto for sending their testimonials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Caixa Postal 5065, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa, PB, 58051-970, Brazil

    Maria Regina de Vasconcellos Barbosa

  2. Institute for Systematic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA

    Douglas C. Daly

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  1. Maria Regina de Vasconcellos Barbosa
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  2. Douglas C. Daly
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Correspondence to Maria Regina de Vasconcellos Barbosa.

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de Vasconcellos Barbosa, M.R., Daly, D.C. Wm. Wayt Thomas: A Career in Botany. Bot. Rev. 87, 187–196 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-021-09255-1

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