Warren Lambert Wagner (born February 8, 1950,

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; "the crosses") is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 census the population was 111,385. Las Cruces is the largest city in both Doña Ana County and southern New ...

) is an American botanist, a curator of botany, and a leading expert on

Onagraceae The Onagraceae are a family of flowering plants known as the willowherb family or evening primrose family. They include about 650 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

, (with links to Wagner's articles and books) especially plants of the Hawaiian Islands.

Biography

Wagner attended

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

from 1968 to 1972 and then transferred to the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. There he graduated in 1973 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and in 1977 with a master's degree in botany, after working as a herbarium curatorial assistant and a research assistant supported by a series of grants. His master's thesis is on the flora of the

Animas Mountains The Animas Mountains are a small mountain range in Hidalgo County, within the " Boot-Heel" region of far southwestern New Mexico, in the United States. They extend north–south for about 30 miles (50 km) along the Continental Divide,Since ...

in southwestern New Mexico. From 1977 to 1981 he was a graduate student at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. His 1981 doctoral dissertation, supervised by

Peter Raven Peter Hamilton Raven (born June 13, 1936) is an American botanist and environmentalist, notable as the longtime director, now President Emeritus, of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Early life On June 13, 1936, Raven was born in Shanghai, China ...

, is entitled "A systematic and evolutionary study of the ''

Oenothera caespitosa ''Oenothera caespitosa'', known commonly as tufted evening primrose, desert evening primrose, rock-rose evening primrose, or fragrant evening primrose, is a perennial plant of the genus ''Oenothera'' native to much of western and central North A ...

'' species group, Onagraceae". From 1981 to 1982 Wagner was a postdoc at

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million spe ...

. In 1982 despite never having visited the Hawaiian Islands and never having studied the flora of those Islands, he was appointed to a position at Honolulu's

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...

to work on a comprehensive, new flora of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1983 he became the leader of the project. In 1990 the

University of Hawaii Press 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, the ...

published the flora in two volumes with the title ''Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i''. The lead author was Wagner, but he had two coauthors and 50 contributors. Since 1988 when he was hired as curator of Pacific botany, Wagner has worked at the Department of Botany of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

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 ...

. From 1992 to 1997 he was the department chair. He has done botanical research in the Hawaiian Islands, the Marquesas, and Taiwan, as well as Mexico, Canada, and the mainland U.S.A. He is the author or coauthor of over 100 scientific articles. His articles have been published in the ''

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden The ''Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden'' is a long-established major peer-reviewed journal of botany, established in 1914 by the Missouri Botanical Garden, under the directorship of botanist and phycologist, George Thomas Moore, and still p ...

'', the ''

American Journal of Botany The ''American Journal of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of plant biology. It has been published by the Botanical Society of America since 1914. The journal has an impact factor of 3.038, as of 201 ...

'', ''

Biochemical Systematics and Ecology ''Biochemical Systematics and Ecology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering chemotaxonomy and ecology. Tony Swain, one of the first editors of ''Phytochemistry'' started the sister journal ''Biochemical Systematics'' in 1973. It was r ...

'', the ''

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society The ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a scientific journal publishing original papers relating to the taxonomy of all plant groups and fungi, including anatomy, biosystematics, cytology, ecology, ethnobotany, electron microscopy, mo ...

'',

Brittonia ''Brittonia'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed botanical journal, publishing articles on plants, fungi, algae, and lichens. Published since 1931, it is named after the botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton. Since 2007, the journal has been published by Spr ...

, ''

Ecology and Evolution ''Ecology and Evolution'' is a biweekly open-access scientific journal covering all areas of ecology, evolution, and conservation. The Editors in Chief of this journal are Allen Moore, Andrew Beckerman, Jenn Firn, Chris Foote, and Gareth Jenkins. ...

'', ''

Frontiers in Plant Science ''Frontiers in Plant Science'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of botany. It was established in 2010 and is published by Frontiers Media. The editor-in-chief is Yunde Zhao (University of California, San Diego). Abstra ...

'', the ''

International Journal of Plant Sciences The ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'' covers botanical research including genetics and genomics, developmental and cell biology, biochemistry and physiology, morphology and structure, systematics, plant-microbe interactions, paleobotany, ...

, ''the ''

Journal of Biogeography The ''Journal of Biogeography'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in biogeography that was established in 1974. It covers aspects of spatial, ecological, and historical biogeography. The founding editor-in-chief was David Watts, followed by J ...

'', ''

Novon The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million s ...

'', ''

PhytoKeys ''PhytoKeys'' is a peer-reviewed, open-access online and print botanical journal. Its stated goal is "to support free exchange of ideas and information in systematic botany". Printed issues of the journal are available in the libraries of the Unit ...

'', ''

Selbyana 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 ...

'', ''

Systematic Botany Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies, and names plants. It is one of the main branches of taxonomy (the science that finds, describes, classifies, and names living things). Plant taxonomy is closely allied ...

'', and ''

Taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

''. In June 1993 in Boulder, Colorado, he married Lucy Carol Julian. They have a son and a daughter.

Awards and honors

* 1990 — Engler Medal in Silver (shared with D. R. Herbst and S. H. Sohmer) from the International Association for Plant Taxonomy for the book ''Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i'' * 1995 — Robert Allerton Award from the National Tropical Botanical Garden for his services in the field of tropical botany 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 ...

* 2008 — Merit Award of the Botanical Society of America * 2015 —

Asa Gray Award Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

of the

American Society of Plant Taxonomists The American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT) is a botanical organization formed in 1935 to "foster, encourage, and promote education and research in the field of plant taxonomy, to include those areas and fields of study that contribute to and b ...

Selected publications

* * * (1st edition published in 1990) * * * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Warren Lambert 1950 births Living people 20th-century American botanists 21st-century American botanists University of New Mexico alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni Smithsonian Institution people