Dear
PNW IPC EDRR Citizen Scientists and Community Partners,
Many
of you have already heard the news but I am writing share the very sad news
about the loss of one of our great leaders in invasive plant ecology,
management, policy and rare plant conservation. Last week, Dr. Sarah Reichard
passed away in her sleep while leading a UW Botanic Gardens tour in South
Africa.
Dr.
Reichard was truly unique in that her academic scholarship was balanced with a
fierce dose of public scholarship that reached audiences on a world-wide scale
both inside out outside of the Academy. She was a passionate scientist who
paved the way and created opportunities for woman in science and worked
diligently to solve complex problems in the important interdisciplinary field
of Conservation Biology.
Dr.
Reichard was a tenured professor at the University of Washington in the School
of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS), the Director of the UW Botanic
Gardens, she has mentored hundreds of eager students over the years and has
served on countless boards, working groups and advisory committees related to
important issues in the realm of invasive plant ecology, management, policy, and
education. Her research focused on understanding the biology of invasive plants
and using that understanding to develop risk assessment methods to prevent
their introduction and spread.
Dr.
Reichard co-authored a National Academy of Science report "Predicting
Invasions of Nonindigenous Plants and Plant Pests." She was co-editor of
"Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest," (University of
Washington Press) and author of numerous research papers. She served six years
on the Federal Invasive Species Advisory Committee and was on the Invasive
Species Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of
Nature. She was The Pacific Northwest Invasive Plant Council;s (PNW IPC) vice
president and was committed to citizen science programs aimed at preventing and
the early detection of invasive plants species in the PNW. Her newest book is
The Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating a Garden Ethic (University of
California Press).
Dr.
Reichard founded and directed the Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation
Program, which works with federal, state, and local agencies to protect
Washington's rare plant species. Dr. Reichard and her students have led the way
in the conservation of rare and endangered plants. Dr. Reichard played a key
role in sourcing funding for the Miller Seed Vault which is the largest of its
kind in the Pacific Northwest. Seeds are stored in the vault for species
protection research purposes and possible future restoration projects.
She
was my M.S. and Ph.D. adviser working on issues related to the ecology of rare
plants and the impacts of invasive species. I have worked closely with since
2011 in my role as director of the EDRR Invasive Plant Citizen Science Program
at the PNW IPC. She has made a deep impression on my scholarship and my
commitment to field of conservation biology. I will miss her greatly along with
the many, many other individuals she has touched.
Here
are a few links showing the more personal and academic side of Dr. Reichard:
· “The
Plant Nerd” – an recent interview by Kim Frappier (a former UW M.S. student
and a current PNW IPC EDRR volunteer) http://forterra.org/editorial/the-plant-nerd
· WNPS
Blog written by Sarah Gage “Where do we go from here?”
Respectfully,
Julie
Combs
___________________________________
Julie K. Combs, Ph.D.
PNW Invasive Plant Council
EDRR Citizen Science Program Director
University of Washington, Botanic Gardens
University of Washington, Botanic Gardens
Box 354115
Seattle, WA 98195
(615) 812-5295
(615) 812-5295