Today's Featured Biography
David Jarzen
DAVID M. JARZEN is a Courtesy Research Scientist in Paleobotany and Palynology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he grew up in northern Ohio gaining an early interest in biology and natural history of the cool temperate environment. He earned his B.S. degree in 1967 from Kent State University majoring in Biological Sciences, and two years later received his M.A. degree in Botany from the same institution. In 1973 he was awarded the Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Toronto.
His research interests in the nature of extant and fossil plant life, have provided extensive field work in all regions of Canada and the United States, as well as Europe, Zambia, Cameroon, Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Fiji, and to several localities within Australia. The focus of his work incorporates a global view towards understanding the evolution of plant life during the Earth's history, with an emphasis on palynofloras recorded from the Cretaceous and Tertiary eras. His publications of scientific papers number over 170, including both professional papers and popular articles. Some of his photography and illustrations have been seen in Scientific American, The Owl Magazine, other popular publications, on the Internet, and in museum displays in Canada and the USA. His work has been incorporated in several radio and television productions including CBC's "Nature of Things", the PBS NOVA Series, the NHK (Japan) Series "The Miracle Planet", the National Film Board of Canada, the Discovery Channel and other North American cable networks.
His work has been recognised by his colleagues through election as President of the Canadian Association of Palynologists [CAP] (1979-1980), Secretary-Treasurer to the International Federation of Palynological Societies [IFPS] (1984-1988); Vice President of the IFPS (1992-1996), and from 1988-1996 has represented the Canadian Association of Palynologists as Councillor to the IFPS. He has served as President-Elect (2000-2001) to the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists. He was an invited Visiting Scholar to the Department of Geology & Mineralogy (1987-1988) of The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and in 1991 and 1994 to the Botany Department of the same university. In 205 he was invited to Australia once again, this time to work with colleagues at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Queensland.
David has been a member of 23 learned scientific societies, including the prestigious Explorer’s Club, as well as the honorary scientific society, Sigma Xi. He has served the scientific community and general public through many slide lectures, videos, CD ROMs, and popular publications. The Palynology and Paleobotany databases at the Canadian Museum of Nature (Ottawa, Canada) were designed and developed by David in co-operation with the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) and have been used as the hallmark for all collection databases at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
At the Florida Museum of Natural History (University of Florida) he completed the restructuring of the 250,000 specimens of the Paleobotany/Palynology Collections, including a 7,000 specimen collection of extant reference pollen slides, and has raised their standards for research and display to a par with other quality museums. While at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, (2002-2003), he enriched the cultural level of educational programs and introduced the gardens and the community to internationally respected speakers through his speakers bureau and lecture series. In 2003, David was elected as Fellow National to the Explores Club, and in 2005 he was elected Fellow of the Ohio Academy of Science. David is listed in American Men and Women of Science, Who’s Who in Ontario (Canada), Who’s Who in Canadian Science, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, as well as Who's Who in America. His extra-curricular activities include music that enhances the soul, nature photography, satirical writing, botanical illustration, and all aspects of natural history.
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