"Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation...even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." -Leonardo da Vinci
Honorary Member Publishes Memoirs
Dr. Jean Langenheim, one Omega Chapter's most recent recipients of Honorary Membership in SDE-GWIS, has published her memoirs, "The Odyssey of a Woman Field Scientist: A Story of Passion, Persistence, and Patience." In this book, Dr. Langenheim shares the struggles and successes she encountered as a field scientist during a time when few women were entering the sciences. She weaves stories of her own personal experiences--such as the time that their pack horse named Prince ran off with all of their equipment and food, eventually strewing it down the mountainside--with key historical events, changes in women's status, and milestones in the field of ecology. Dr. Langenheim discusses the prevailing theories of the times and how her own research interests and theories were altered by her experiences and the various people she met along the way.
Dr. Langenheim, professor emerita and research professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is an eminent plant ecologist and leading authority on plant resins. She has studied plant resins and amber (fossilized resin) for more than 40 years, and her book, "Plant Resins: Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, and Ethnobotany" (2003), is the only authoritative reference book on the subject. Dr. Langenheim also published a botany textbook, "Plant Biology in its Relation to Human Affairs", and over 130 research papers. She has been elected to numerous leadership positions in national and international societies, including the first woman President of both the Association for Tropical Biology and the International Society of Chemical Ecologists and the second woman President of both the Ecological Society of America and the Ecological Society of America and the Society for Economic Botany. She has traveled widely during her research, not only in North America but also throughout Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and many countries in Europe. She has received numerous honors for her contributions to the advancement of science, including the 2006 Fellows Medal of the California Academy of Sciences and a Centennial Award from the Botanical Society of America. In addition, Dr. Langenheim found time to mentor 41 graduate students!
"The Odyssey of a Woman Field Scientist: A Story of Passion, Persistence, and Patience" represents Dr. Langenheim's personal reflection on the varied parts of her life that helped shape her career, which she eloquently describes as "the threads in the tapestry of her life." The book can be purchased from Xlibris (by clicking here), Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.
Dr. Langenheim, professor emerita and research professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is an eminent plant ecologist and leading authority on plant resins. She has studied plant resins and amber (fossilized resin) for more than 40 years, and her book, "Plant Resins: Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, and Ethnobotany" (2003), is the only authoritative reference book on the subject. Dr. Langenheim also published a botany textbook, "Plant Biology in its Relation to Human Affairs", and over 130 research papers. She has been elected to numerous leadership positions in national and international societies, including the first woman President of both the Association for Tropical Biology and the International Society of Chemical Ecologists and the second woman President of both the Ecological Society of America and the Ecological Society of America and the Society for Economic Botany. She has traveled widely during her research, not only in North America but also throughout Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and many countries in Europe. She has received numerous honors for her contributions to the advancement of science, including the 2006 Fellows Medal of the California Academy of Sciences and a Centennial Award from the Botanical Society of America. In addition, Dr. Langenheim found time to mentor 41 graduate students!
"The Odyssey of a Woman Field Scientist: A Story of Passion, Persistence, and Patience" represents Dr. Langenheim's personal reflection on the varied parts of her life that helped shape her career, which she eloquently describes as "the threads in the tapestry of her life." The book can be purchased from Xlibris (by clicking here), Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.