Name Amos Heller | ||
Died 1944, United States of America | ||
Amos Arthur Heller (March 21, 1867–May 19, 1944) was an American botanist. Heller was one of the most prolific western collectors from 1892 until 1940.
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Early life
Heller was born in Danville, Pennsylvania.
In 1892, Heller received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin & Marshall College. In 1897, he received a Master's degree in Botany from Franklin & Marshall College.
Career
From 1896 to 1898, Heller was a professor of Botany at the University of Minnesota.
From 1898 to 1999, Heller worked on the Vanderbilt Expedition to Puerto Rico under the auspices of the New York Botanical Garden.
Starting in 1905, Heller was a professor of Botany at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California.
After moving to California, Heller and his wife, Emily Gertrude Heller, founded the botanical journal Muhlenbergia and Heller continued to edit that journal until 1915. While living in Los Gatos, California, south of San Francisco from 1904 to 1908, Heller collected extensively in central California. He also obtained an impressive collection from Puerto Rico. In 1913, Heller moved to Chico, California, and taught at the local high school, but continued to collect botanical specimens.
His first herbarium of over 10,000 sheets is at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and his second herbarium and library is at the University of Washington, in Seattle. At the University of Washington, Heller's Puerto Rico plant collecting itineraries of 1900 and 1902–1903 and their utility for the historical study of endangered plants are housed.
Personal life
In 1896, Heller married Emily Gertrude Heller (née Halbach). She frequently collaborated with him both in the collection of specimens as well as illustrating his numerous publications.