New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1952. He specializes in the
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
of the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
horticulture
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
of palms and tropical ornamental plants. He also works on the
population genetics
Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as Adaptation (biology), adaptation, ...
and
molecular systematics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
of
cycads
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody ( ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male o ...
and
palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
s.
He studied at the Bronx High School of Science and then at the University of New York. Dropping out after a year, aged 19, he moved to Santa Cruz,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. After living on a farm for four years he decided to resume his studies in
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 ...
and
horticulture
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
at the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
.
Initially his interest in botany was focused on trees, working for three years in the arboretum of the University. He graduated in December 1978 and continued his postgraduate study at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, after working for two years at the
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden located at 900 South Palm Avenue in Sarasota, Florida. The Gardens are located on the grounds of the former home of Marie and William Selby.
Flora
The Gardens feature preserved collections ...
in Sarasota, Florida, where his interest in Amaryllidaceae was stimulated. His master's thesis, in 1983, was on the taxonomy of the genus '' Eucharis''. He continued with the same subject in his doctoral studies, producing his thesis entitled "A Monograph of Eucharis and
Caliphruria
''Caliphruria'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family ( Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae.) The four species grow in tropical areas of South America, with three endemic to Colombia, but are r ...
(Amaryllidaceae)" in 1986.
He then moved to the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center where he was a palm and tropical ornamental specialist. As well as carrying out research on the phylogeny and taxonomy of the Amaryllidaceae, he bred ''
Hippeastrum
''Hippeastrum'' () is a genus of about 90 species and over 600 hybrids and cultivars of perennial herbaceous bulbous plants. They generally have large fleshy bulbs and tall broad leaves, generally evergreen, and large red or purple flowers. ...
Herbert Medal
The Herbert Medal is awarded by the International Bulb Society to those whose achievements in advancing knowledge of ornamental bulbous plants is considered to be outstanding.bulbous plants.
From October 1999 until July 2019, he was located at the National Germplasm Repository of the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), based in Miami, working on the conservation, genetics, systematics, characterization, and breeding of species of subtropical and tropical ornamentals. In 2005, th American Society of Plant Taxonomists awarded him the Peter Raven Award for Scientific Outreach. In 2017, he was awarded th David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration by the
National Tropical Botanical Garden
The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is a Hawaii-based not-for-profit institution dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation, and education. It operates a network of botanical gardens and preserves in Hawaii and Florida.
History
I ...
. Upon retirement from USDA, Meerow became a Research Fellow of th Montgomery Botanical Center in Coral Gables, FL, and is an adjunct professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.
Selected publications
Meerow has published over 250 scientific papers, numerous magazine and university extension articles, and is the author or co-author of three popular books on palms.
*
* , in . (additional excerpts) * , in
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Full text *
*
* , in
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Jestrow, B., Peguero, B., Jiménez, F., Verdecia, R., González-Oliva, L., Moya, C.E., Cinea, W., Griffith, M.P., Meerow, A.W., Maunder, M. and Francisco-Ortega, J., 2017. A conservation framework for the Critically Endangered endemic species of the Caribbean palm Coccothrinax. Oryx, pp. 1–12. doi:10.1017/S0030605317000588..
* Meerow, A.W., Reed, S.T., Dunn, C. and Schnell, E., 2017. Fragrance analysis of two scented Hippeastrum species. HortScience 52: 1853–1860.
*
* Campos-Rocha, A., A. W. Meerow & J. H. A. Dutilh. 2018. Two new critically endangered species of Hippeastrum (Amaryllidaceae) from the Brazilian Cerrado. Phytotaxa 360: 91–102.
* de Lima, N.E., Carvalho, A. A., Meerow, A. W. and Manfrin, M. H. 2018. A review of the palm genus Acrocomia: Neotropical green gold. Organism Diversity and Evolution 18: 151–161.