Biography:Scott Alan Mori

Short description: American botanist and plant collector

Scott Alan Mori
Scott Mori in 1980
Born	(1941-10-13)October 13, 1941
Died	August 12, 2020(2020-08-12) (aged 78)
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (B.S.) University of Wisconsin–Madison (M.S., Ph.D.)
Scientific career
Fields	Botany
Institutions	New York Botanical Garden
Doctoral advisor	Hugh H. Iltis
Author abbrev. (botany)	S.A.Mori

Scott Alan Mori (October 13, 1941, Janesville, Wisconsin – August 12, 2020) was a swiss and american botanist and plant collector. He specialized in the systematics and ecology of neotropical Lecythidaceae and Amazonian and Guianian floristics.

Biography

Mori graduated in 1964 with a B.S. in biology and conservation from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and in 1968 with an M.S. in botany from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. There he received in 1974 his Ph.D. in botany with dissertation Taxonomic and Anatomic Studies of Gustavia (Lecythidaceae) under the supervision of Hugh H. Iltis. From 1969 to 1974 Mori was an instructor in botany and zoology at the University of Wisconsin Center System at Marshfield. From 1974 to 1975 he was a curator at the Summit Herbarium in the Panama Canal Zone. From 1975 to 1978 he was a research associate at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) in the Bronx. From 1978 to 1980 he was a curator at Itabuna, Brazil's Herbário Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau (Herbarium Cacao Research Center, which was founded in 1965). At NYBG, he was an associate curator from 1980 to 1982, a curator from 1982 to 1995, the director of NYBG's Institute of Systematic Botany from 1995 to 2001, and Nathaniel Lord Britton Curator of Botany at the Institute of Systematic Botany from 1998 to 2014, when he retired as curator emeritus.

During his career Mori collected about 28,000 botanical specimens, mostly from the Neotropics and with a focus on lianas and trees. He was an adjunct professor at CUNY, Yale University, and Columbia University. He wrote "130 scientific papers about plants and conservation, dozens of popular articles and blogs, and 12 books."

Mori's 11 doctoral students include Brian Boom and John J. Pipoly III. Mori was married to Carol A. Gracie, a botanist and photographer. She worked with him on botanical research projects in South America. As part of the NYBG's ecotour program, the husband and wife team led dozens of botanical tours to many locations, including "the Amazon, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Galapagos, Hawaii, and various parts of Europe." Upon his death in 2020, Scott Mori was survived by his widow, a son, and two granddaughters, as well as step-children and step-grandchildren.

Scott Mori in the field collecting plants

Awards and honors

• 1991–2001 — President of the Torrey Botanical Society
• 2002 — Engler Medal in Silver from the International Association of Plant Taxonomy
• 2007 — David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration from the National Tropical Botanical Garden
• 2007 — Asa Gray Award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists

Selected publications

Articles

• Prance, Ghillean T.; Mori, Scott A. (1978). "Observations on the Fruits and Seeds of Neotropical Lecythidaceae". Brittonia 30 (1): 21–33. doi:10.2307/2806452. 
• Mori, Scott A.; Boom, Brian M.; Prance, Ghillean T. (1981). "Distribution Patterns and Conservation of Eastern Brazilian Coastal Forest Tree Species". Brittonia 33 (2): 233–245. doi:10.2307/2806330. 
• Mori, Scott A.; Boom, Brian M.; De Carvalho, André M.; Dos Santos, Talmón S. (1983). "Southern Bahian moist forests". The Botanical Review 49 (2): 155–232. doi:10.1007/BF02861011. 
• Mori, Scott A.; Boom, Brian M.; De Carvalho, Andre M.; Dos Santos, Talmon S. (1983). "Ecological Importance of Myrtaceae in an Eastern Brazilian Wet Forest". Biotropica 15 (1): 68–70. doi:10.2307/2388002. 
• Mori, Scott A.; Pipoly, John J. (1984). "Observations on the Big Bang Flowering of Miconia minutiflora (Melastomataceae)". Brittonia 36 (4): 337–341. doi:10.2307/2806595. ISSN 0007-196X. 
• Funk, Vicki Ann; Mori, Scott A. (1989). "A bibliography of plant collectors in Bolivia". Smithsonian Contributions to Botany (70): 1–20. doi:10.5479/si.0081024X.70. https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/6966/scb-0070.pdf; 20 pages 
• Mori, Scott A.; Becker, Peter (1991). "Flooding Affects Survival of Lecythidaceae in Terra Firme Forest Near Manaus, Brazil". Biotropica 23 (1): 87–90. doi:10.2307/2388692. 
• Plotkin, Mark, ed (1992). "The Brazil nut industry-past, present, and future by Scott A. Mori". Sustainable harvest and marketing of rain forest products. Island Press. pp. 241–251. ISBN 9781559631693. https://books.google.com/books?id=qllv2oHkYjkC. 
• Knudsen, J. T.; Mori, S. A. (1996). "Floral Scents and Pollination in Neotropical Lecythidaceae". Biotropica 28 (1): 42–60. doi:10.2307/2388770. 
• Morton, Cynthia M.; Mori, Scott A.; Prance, Ghillean T.; Karol, Ken G.; Chase, Mark W. (1997). "Phylogenetic Relationships of Lecythidaceae: A Cladistic Analysis Using RBCL Sequence and Morphological Data". American Journal of Botany 84 (4): 530–540. doi:10.2307/2446029. PMID 21708605. 
• De Oliveira, Alexandre A.; Mori, Scott A. (1999). "A central Amazonian terra firme forest. I. High tree species richness on poor soils.". Biodiversity and Conservation 8 (9): 1219–1244. doi:10.1023/A:1008908615271. 
• Kennelly, E.J.; Baggett, S.; Nuntanakorn, P.; Ososki, A.L.; Mori, S.A.; Duke, J.; Coleton, M.; Kronenberg, F. (2002). "Analysis of thirteen populations of Black Cohosh for formononetin". Phytomedicine 9 (5): 461–467. doi:10.1078/09447110260571733. PMID 12222669. 
• Lobova, T. A.; Mori, S. A.; Blanchard, F.; Peckham, H.; Charles-Dominique, P. (2003). "Cecropia as a food resource for bats in French Guiana and the significance of fruit structure in seed dispersal and longevity". American Journal of Botany 90 (3): 388–403. doi:10.3732/ajb.90.3.388. PMID 21659132.  (See Cecropia.)
• Gonzalez, Mailyn Adriana; Baraloto, Christopher; Engel, Julien; Mori, Scott A.; Pétronelli, Pascal; Riéra, Bernard; Roger, Aurélien; Thébaud, Christophe et al. (2009). "Identification of Amazonian Trees with DNA Barcodes". PLOS ONE 4 (10): e7483. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007483. PMID 19834612. Bibcode: 2009PLoSO...4.7483G. 
• Cardoso, Domingos; Särkinen, Tiina; Alexander, Sara; Amorim, André M.; Bittrich, Volker; Celis, Marcela; Daly, Douglas C.; Fiaschi, Pedro et al. (2017). "Amazon plant diversity revealed by a taxonomically verified species list". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114 (40): 10695–10700. doi:10.1073/pnas.1706756114. PMID 28923966. Bibcode: 2017PNAS..11410695C. 

Scott Mori in his office at the New York Botanical Garden, 2015

Books

• Mori, Scott A. (1968). The Genus Lecythis in Central America. https://books.google.com/books?id=z7pbAAAAMAAJ. 
• Mori, Scott A. (1974). Taxonomic and Anatomic Studies in Gustavia (Lecythidaceae). https://books.google.com/books?id=7dTOAAAAMAAJ. 
• Mori, Scott A.; Prance, Ghillean T. (1990). Lecythidaceae: Part II. The zygomorphic-flowered New World genera (Couroupita, Corythophora, Betholletia, Couratari, Eschweilera, & Eschweilera, & Lecythis). Organization for Flora Neotropica. ISBN 9780893273453. https://books.google.com/books?id=7ioVAQAAIAAJ. 
• Mori, Scott A.; Zeeuw, Carl De; Prance, Ghillean Tolmie (1993). Phanerogams: Lecythidaceae. Koeltz Scientific Books. ISBN 9783874293402. https://books.google.com/books?id=8vFAAQAAMAAJ. 
• Mori S.A.; Cremers, Georges; Gracie, Carol; Granville, Jean-Jacques de; Hoff, Michel; Mitchell, John D. (1997). Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central French Guiana: Part 1. Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Monocotyledons. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. 76. New York: New York Botanical Garden. ISBN 0-89327-398-8. https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010011704; 422 pages 
• Mori, Scott A.; Cremers, Georges; Gracie, Carol; Granville, Jean-Jacques de; Heald, Scott V.; Hoff, Michel; Mitchell, John D. (1997). Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central French Guiana: Part 2. Dicotyledons. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. 76. New York. ISBN 9780893274450. https://books.google.com/books?id=oVQeAQAAMAAJ; 776 pages 
• Mori, Scott A. (2011). Tropical Plant Collecting: From the Field to the Internet. TECC Editora. ISBN 9788565005005. https://books.google.com/books?id=9QQFywAACAAJ. 

External links

• "Scott A. Mori, publication list". https://www.nybg.org/bsci/staf/moripublist.htm. 
• "Botany in My Backyard, Dr Scott Mori". The Taft School. October 5, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKD5BUwUDPI.