Ken Cameron
Expert on plant biology, especially orchids, Vanilla, and the flora of Wisconsin; natural history science museum collections
Professor, Botany; Director, WI State Herbarium College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Work: 608-265-9237 — Home and cell phones available upon request kmcameron@wisc.edu Home page
Topics
- Biology of vanilla, the world's most important flavor and fragrance
- >400 million years of plant evolution and diversity, from the tropics to the temperate zone
- Evolution and classification of the orchid family (orchids; Orchidaceae), the largest family of plants on Earth
- Scientific, historical, and cultural research value of natural history museum collections
- Curation of the world class WI State Herbarium, a collection of 1.3 million preserved plant specimens
Achievements
- Author of "Vanilla Orchids: Natural History and Cultivation". 212 pages. Timber Press, Portland, OR. 2011
- Recipient of the 2014 Peter Raven Award for Exceptional Scientific Outreach, American Society of Plant Taxonomists.
- Author or co-author on >100 peer-reviewed scientific papers in the field of plant systematics
- Frequent contributor to local and national media stories, including NOVA, HGTV, NPR, BBC Radio, NYTimes, and others