Francis Raymond Fosberg (20 May 1908 – 25 September 1993) was an American

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. A prolific collector and author, he played a significant role in the development of

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

and island studies.

History

Ray Fosberg was born in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

but grew up in

Turlock, California Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its estimated 2019 population of 73,631 made it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by prominent grain farmer Jo ...

. He received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

in 1930. Fosberg worked as a plant researcher at the Los Angeles County Museum, specializing in plants from islands on the coast of California and of the

desert Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacen ...

. He became interested in island

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s, and in 1932 moved to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

to work at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

as an assistant to

Harold St. John Harold St. John (July 24/25 1892 – December 12, 1991) was a professor of botany at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa from 1929 to 1958. A prolific specialist in field botany and systematics, he is credited with discovering about 500 new spe ...

. There he received an invitation to participate in the Mangarevan Expedition led by the

malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

Charles Montague Cooke, Jr. Charles Montague Cooke Jr. (December 20, 1874 – October 29, 1948) was an American malacologist who published under the name of C. Montague Cooke or C.M. Cooke. Life Charles Montague Cooke Jr. was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 20, 1874. ...

The expedition visited 25 high islands and 31 coral islands, and Fosberg and St. John brought back 15,000 plant specimens. Fosberg received his

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Botany from the

in 1937 and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1939 . Thereafter he worked at the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

and was sent to

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

to identify stands of ''

Cinchona ''Cinchona'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All are native to the Tropical Andes, tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are ...

'' during the

Cinchona Missions The Cinchona Missions (1942-1945) were a series of expeditions led by the United States to find natural sources of quinine in South America during World War II. Background Bark of species from the genus '' Cinchona'' produces the alkaloid quinine, ...

. In 1946 he participated in an economic resources survey in the

Micronesian Islands Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

. He returned to the United States and began doing vegetation work for the

Pacific Science Board The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

under the

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

with his new assistant,

Marie-Hélène Sachet Marie-Hélène Sachet (1922–1986) was a French botanist. In 1966, she commenced work at the Smithsonian Institution, rising to the position of curator of botany at the National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural His ...

. In 1951, Fosberg and Sachet began working at the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

where they were responsible for mapping the military geology of islands in the Pacific. In 1966 they joined the Smithsonian's

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

in the tropical biology branch of the

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

program. In 1968 Fosberg transferred to the Department of Botany, where he became

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. In 1976 he became Senior Botanist, and in 1993 Botanist Emeritus.

José Cuatrecasas José Cuatrecasas (1903–1996) was a Spanish botany, botanist. He was born on March 19, 1903, in Camprodon, Catalonia, Spain. His research focused on the high-elevation páramo and sub-páramo regions of the Andes Mountains in South America, e ...

and Fosberg were largely responsible for the founding of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Organization for Flora Neotropica The Organization for Flora Neotropica (OFN) is a UNESCO nongovernmental organization in Category B (biosphere reserves). OFN was founded in 1964, due to the efforts of the botanists José Cuatrecasas and F. Raymond Fosberg. OFN's main goal is the p ...

in 1964.

Publications

Fosberg has contributed to more than 700 books and papers. In 1980 he helped publish ''A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon'' ().Google Book Search Information page about A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon
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References

External links

;

Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...

F. Raymond Fosberg PapersF. Raymond Fosberg Papers, 1960-1974Oral history interviews with Francis Raymond Fosberg 1993
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fosberg, Francis Raymond 1908 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American botanists United States Geological Survey personnel Pomona College alumni