W. John Kress

Kress received his B.A. from Harvard University (1975) and his Ph.D. from Duke University (1981) where he studied tropical biology, ethnobotany, evolution, and plant systematics. A taxonomist specializing in gingers, bananas, and heliconias about which he has published extensively, Kress has a strong interest in the diversity, pollination ecology, evolution, and conservation of tropical plants. He has been instrumental in developing programs on the history of botany at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian and has become increasingly interested in botanical art and illustration, as per his recent publications: Botanica Magnifica: Portraits of the World’s Most Beautiful and Rare Flowers and Plants (with J. Singer and M. Hachadourian, 2009), and The Art of Plant Evolution (with Shirley Sherwood, 2009). In his most recent book The Weeping Goldsmith: Discoveries in the Secret Land of Myanmar (2009), he recounts the years he spent in Myanmar documenting biodiversity and in search of rare, little known plants. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Kress is also associated with The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been appointed (2010)as the Director of the new Consortium for Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet of the Smithsonian Institution, and is currently the Executive Director of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.

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