Scott Miller
Chief Scientist in the Office of Under Secretary for Science and Research, and also Interim Director of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.
Scott Miller is Chief Scientist in the Office of Under Secretary for Science and Research, and also Interim Director of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. Before coming to the Smithsonian's central administration, Miller previously held leadership positions at the National Zoological Park, the National Museum of Natural History, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. He helped establish and lead the Consortium for the Barcode of Life—an international network developing DNA-based identification tools to make biodiversity information more widely available. Miller maintains an active research program with more than 230 publications. His current research focuses on the integration of systematics, ecology, biogeography and conservation of insects and plants. Miller has a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Presentation title: Welcome from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Thursday, May 6, 2021
Martin Kalfatovic
Associate Director, Digital Programs & Initiatives and Program Director, BHL
Martin R. Kalfatovic is the Associate Director at Smithsonian Libraries and Program Director of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. At Smithsonian Libraries, he is involved with scholarly communications, mass digitization, and education and outreach. A regular contributor to popular and scholarly publications, he also writes on a variety of topics on his blog at UDC793.
As the Program Director for the BHL, a global consortium of natural history, research, and botanical garden libraries, he directs the aggregation of content, global partnerships within the larger biodiversity world, and fosters collaboration and community among partners.
He has an inordinate fondness for dodos.
Presentation title: The Biodiversity Heritage Library: 2020-21 Update / Thursday, May 6, 2021
Dr. W. John Kress
Co-Chair, Earth BioGenome Project
Visiting Scholar, Dartmouth College and The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University/Distinguished Scientist and Curator Emeritus, National Museum of Natural History
Dr. Kress was Curator of Botany for over thirty years and formerly served as the Interim Under Secretary for Science at the Smithsonian and Director of Science in the Grand Challenges Consortia. He is currently the co-Chair of the Earth BioGenome Project, an international initiative to generate complete genomic data for life on Earth. Dr. Kress received his education at Harvard University (B.A., 1975) and Duke University (Ph.D., 1981) where he studied tropical biology, ethnobotany, evolution, and ecology. He is a taxonomic specialist on the tropical Zingiberales and his current research is focused on biodiversity genomics, conservation, and the Anthropocene. Among his over 200 scientific and popular papers are his books Plant Conservation – A Natural History Approach, The Weeping Goldsmith, The Art of Plant Evolution, and The Ornaments of Life - Coevolution and Conservation in the Tropics. His most recent book is Living in the Anthropocene – Earth in the Age of Humans about climate change and society. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is currently Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. He lives in Dorset, Vermont, with his wife Lindsay Clarkson, MD, who is a psychoanalyst.
Presentation title: The future of biodiversity in the age of humans: Why science libraries matter? / Thursday, May 6, 2021
Barbara Ferry
Interim manager, Research Services and Head, Natural and Physical Sciences Department, Smithsonian Libraries
As the Head of the Natural & Physical Sciences Libraries at the Smithsonian, I manage the services, collections, and staff of the libraries of the National Museum of Natural History, the Botany/Horticulture Library, the Anthropology Library, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Library, the National Zoological Park Library & Conservation Biology Institute, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. I have more than 30 years experience as an information professional managing libraries and leading teams of information professionals developing and managing digital and print resources for scientific research, impact measurement, content development, strategic decision-making and business risk mitigation. My previous employers include National Geographic, The Washington Post, and Washington Information Group. I am active in the Library and information community and have spoken at workshops and conference programs throughout my career (SLA, IFLA, Charleston Library Conference, Future of Information Alliance, ALA, etc.).
Presentation title: Introduction to Libraries and Archives / Thursday, May 6. 2021
Robin Everly
Branch Librarian, Botany and Horticulture Library, Smithsonian Libraries
Robin Everly is a Branch Librarian within Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. She manages the Botany and Horticulture Library and has subject expertise in both botany (primarily taxonomic and botanical nomenclature) and horticulture (primarily American gardening and plants grown in the mid-Atlantic United States).
Presentation title: History of the Botany-Horticulture library / Thursday, May 6. 2021
Allaina Wallace
Head Librarian, Denver Botanic Gardens
Allaina Wallace has been the Head Librarian at Denver Botanic Gardens since 2014. Her professional library experience includes 9 years as an archivist/librarian, 5 years with public libraries, and 7 years (and counting) with the Helen Fowler Library. She enjoys riding her motorcycle, hanging with her grandchildren, drinking craft beer with her husband, and watching bad SYFY movies.
Presentation title: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Leadership: Zen and the art of moving a library / Thursday, May 6, 2021
Kathryn Downing
Technical Services Librarian, Helen Fowler Library, Denver Botanic Gardens
Kathryn Downing is the Technical Services Librarian for the Helen Fowler Library at Denver Botanic Gardens. Prior to moving to Colorado, Kathryn worked as a cataloger for the College of William & Mary’s Wolf Law Library and Special Collections Research Center in Virginia. She then moved to Scotland to study Book History and Material Culture at the University of Edinburgh, where she earned her library-accreditation while gaining experience in museum libraries specifically. In addition to the duties of her current position, Kathryn focuses on researching botanical book history and examining the legacies of colonialism and imperialism in present-day botany and horticulture.
Presentation title: Moving Forward by Looking Back: Understanding the History of Plant Common Names in Order to Connect All People with Plants / Thursday, May 6. 2021
Joyce Connolly
Smithsonian Gardens, Archives of American Gardens
Joyce Connolly has been a museum specialist with Smithsonian Gardens’ Collections Management and Education branch since 1999. She helps manage the Archives of American Gardens and Smithsonian Gardens’ Garden Furnishings and Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, she was an archives specialist with the National Park Service for 14 years at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Presentation title: Early Garden Photography: Glass Lantern Slides / Friday, May 7, 2021
Amy O’Shea
Horticulture Librarian, Horticulture Librarian, Schumacher Library, Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Amy O’Shea is the Horticulture Librarian at Schumacher Library, Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. Amy has worked in libraries for over 20 years and after experiences in a variety of special and academic settings, she feels fortunate to have the opportunity to work with her dream collection of botany and horticulture related materials.
Presentation title: Engaging Youth Pre and Post Pandemic at Schumacher Library, Olbrich Botanical Gardens / Friday, May 7, 2021
Suzi Teghtmeyer
Agriculture and Plant Sciences Librarian, Michigan State University Libraries
Suzi Teghtmeyer is the agriculture, horticulture, forestry and botanical librarian at Michigan State University Libraries. She’s been a CBHL member since 1999 and loves this organization. She enjoys teaching students library research methods, writing grants, serving on the library’s ergonomics committee, and is the new book and internet reviews editor for the Journal of Agricultural and Food Information (JAFI). Pet projects include database projects, photography, and raising her two sons and multiple cats.
Presentation title: Open Electronic Resources (OER) for the Plant and Agricultural Sciences / Friday, May 7, 2021
Brandy Watts
Librarian, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth
Brandy draws on upwards of nine years of experience working in natural history collections, libraries, and archives, which include The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, The California Botanic Garden Herbarium and Library, and the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden Library. Brandy has been instrumental to a number of National Science Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded projects such as Global Plants Initiative (NY), The Plants of the Caribbean (NY), and Engaging Our Future to Preserve Our Past; Collections in Support of Biological Research (RSA). Brandy is responsible for overall collection management, assessment, and acquisitions for BRIT Library, including oversight of the special collections and the archive.
In 2017, Brandy published The Field Photographs of Alain H. Liogier; Plants of Hispaniola, Dominican Republic, 1968-1969 through New York Botanical Garden Press. The book presents a curated collection of the Kodachrome field photographs that botanist Alain H. Liogier took while collecting plants in the Caribbean region. Liogier was previously a BRIT Research Associate.
Presentation title: The Value of Field Photographs to Botany Research & Beyond: Botanical Libraries & Biological Collections / Friday, May 7, 2021