Fields botanist Field Botany | Author abbrev. (botany) Institution New York Botanical Garden | |
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Institutions New York Botanical Garden Known for Floristics, Plant Collections, Acalypha, Polygonaceae. Alma mater City University of New York Books Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Belize, with Common Names and Uses | ||
Daniel Atha (born 1952) is a botanist. In his work as a botanist he has collected plants in all 50 states, as well as several additional countries. Atha's work is focused on three areas: "floristics—what plants grow in a particular region; taxonomy—how to tell one plant from another, what to call it and what it's related to; and applied botany—how plants are used for food, medicine, shelter and other useful purposes." Atha is a prominent regional botanist, and the high-profile botanical projects with which has been involved (such as the recent Spontaneous Flora of Central Park project) have garnered national and international attention.
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Biography
Daniel Atha is the Conservation Program Manager at New York Botanical Garden, where he is also a Research Associate. Atha is also the Associate Editor for Brittonia.
Atha's parents were artists, and he has been involved in several community projects related to the intersection of botany and art. Atha is involved in work related to invasive plants in the greater-New York City region, including Westchester County.
Spontaneous Flora of Central Park
One of Atha's research projects involves documenting and collecting every naturally occurring plant in Central Park. The quote below comes from an interview Atha gave to The New York Times in 2015
"We thought, 'Wow, Central Park is right in the middle of New York City, in the densest urban metropolitan region in North America,'" recalled Mr. Atha, who has studied plants in all 50 states, as well as Bolivia, Russia and Vietnam. "'And yet there is nobody documenting the flora today. How crazy is that?'"