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Dr. Steven Clemants
July 22, 1954–November 2, 2008
Dr. Steven Clemants, a senior scientist at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, died in Brooklyn on Sunday, November 2, 2008.
A passion for plants came early for Clemants, who went on to become one of the leading botanists of the day. Born in Minnesota and raised in the towns of Edina and Minnetonka, Minnesota, and Chicago and Normal, Illinois, Steve developed a love of nature as a young boy. He had an affection for the flowers that grew in his family's garden, particularly tulips, but he especially admired wildflowers. Throughout his childhood, his mother, Doris, nurtured his interest, teaching him about local wildflowers and where they grew.
After completing high school in Minnetonka, Steve attended the University of Minnesota. He initially majored in computer science, but he missed the out-of-doors and his nature studies. This led him to change his undergraduate major to botany, his childhood love. His dual interests of botany and computer science served Steve very well later in his career; he was instrumental in developing a number of important databases for plant location records. Steve graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1976 but remained there to pursue a master's degree in botany with a minor in horticulture, which he obtained in 1979.
Steve's botanical pursuits took him to the City University of New York (CUNY) where, working at the New York Botanical Garden with curator James Luteyn, he pursued a doctorate in botany. His graduate work focused on New World members of the blueberry family in the genus Bejaria, and this allowed him to conduct field trips in the tropics. He obtained his doctorate in botany from CUNY in 1984. It was during his graduate studies that his friend and fellow graduate student Brian Boom introduced Steve to Grace Markman, then a volunteer tour guide at the New York Botanical Garden. They later married.
After a brief teaching appointment at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, Steve accepted a position as a botanist with the New York Natural Heritage Program, and he and Grace moved to the Albany area in 1985. Utilizing his skills in botany and computer science, Steve developed a database of rare plant occurrences in New York State. He also conducted extensive fieldwork in search of rare plants. During this time his interests in plant research expanded beyond the blueberry family to other families, including the rush family and goosefoot family.
In 1989, Steve accepted a position as a research taxonomist at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where he later served as director of Science; vice president of Science, Publications, and Library; and senior research scientist. As Steve continued his botanical research, he developed additional interests in urban ecology and conservation. Shortly after arriving at the Garden, he founded the New York Metropolitan Flora program, which has become an international model for studying plants in urban environments. Data from this pioneering project are now yielding important information on how human-caused phenomena, such as global warming and development, are affecting the region's plants.
During his time at BBG, Steve published dozens of research papers. In 2006 he coauthored Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States (Oxford University Press) with New York Botanic Garden researcher and photographer Carol Gracie. This book has become one of most popular field guides for the Northeast. It is also used as a college textbook for field botany, enabling people to learn more about the wild plants Steve had admired since he was a boy. Steve also furthered botanical education by serving on the faculty at Rutgers University and the City University of New York.
Steve recognized the need to protect the plants he loved so much and served on numerous committees and boards of organizations active in local, national, and international conservation efforts. During his career he was president of the Nature Network; chair of the Invasive Plant Council of New York State; president of the board of Botanic Gardens Conservation International's U.S. office; historian of the Torrey Botanical Society; chairman of the Long Island Botanical Society; and member of the Woodland Advisory Board of Prospect Park. He was also codirector of the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE), a collaboration between Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Rutgers University, the first scientific initiative in the U.S. established to study and restore human-dominated lands. He served as editor-in-chief of Urban Habitats, a peer-reviewed scientific e-journal on the biology of urban areas around the world, which was launched in 2003. In 2008, Dr. Clemants was instrumental in developing an agreement between the NYC Parks Department and Brooklyn Botanic Garden committing the resources of the two institutions to the conservation of plants native to New York City, the first comprehensive conservation initiative targeting the City's native plants. "Steve was a colleague and the leader of our mutual efforts to discover, preserve, and publicize local botanical biodiversity," said Adrian Benepe, NYC Parks Commissioner. "He will be deeply missed by all who care about natural New York and the great beauty of its parks and wild spaces."
Steve was a remarkably kind, giving, and patient man, who always found time to assist students and other members of the public who came to the Garden with questions and requests. Shortly before Steve's passing, his extraordinary kindness was displayed when he learned that a Ukrainian colleague and his wife—who had never before been to New York—would briefly be in town during a flight layover. Steve picked them up, took them on a whirlwind tour of Brooklyn, and returned them to the airport in time for their flight. Gerry Moore, director of Science at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, said, "Steve's extensive knowledge of botany and willingness to help all who came to him with questions was a combination that served the Garden and the public well. His example inspires us to continue our research in the plant sciences, while always finding time to share our knowledge and our curiosity with individuals, from kindergartners to international researchers."
As news of his passing has spread, BBG science staff received messages from around the world from colleagues who admired Steve and his work. Peter H. Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, said, "Steve Clemants was a bright light in the field of botany, a lovely man who was utterly fascinated with plants, loved people, and made a marvelous contribution by combining his passions into every facet of his life. No one has done a better job in involving the public in the joy of learning about plants, finding them, thrilling in new discoveries, and understanding their traits. Steve's contributions to science were deep and numerous, and his contributions to development of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden over the years, through good times and difficult ones, were of fundamental importance in keeping that fine institution on an even keel. His bright, friendly, pleasant personality will be missed as much as his outstanding professional skills, not only in research and in administration but in education and in his ability to uplift the spirit of everyone who knew him."
Steve is survived by his wife, the painter Grace Markman of Brooklyn; his mother, Doris Seward, and stepfather, Thomas Seward, of Minnetonka, Minnesota; his brother, Thomas Clemants, of Vail, Colorado; his sister, Judith Yess, of Winona, Minnesota, his half-sister Nancy McLean of Hopkins, Minnesota; his half-sister Elizabeth Clemants of New York City; his half-brother, Robert Clemants, of St. Louis Park, Minnesota; his stepsister, Ellen Dahlquist, of Edina, Minnesota; and his stepmother, Phyllis Clemants, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Dr. Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund has been established to honor our late colleague and friend. Steve's widow, Grace Markman, is working with the Greenbelt Native Plant Center to plan a living memorial that will foster the planting of native wildflower species in New York City parks. Donations in his memory should be made out to "City Parks Foundation, Dr. Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund," and mailed to City Parks Foundation, c/o Greenbelt Native Plant Center, 3808 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY 10314.