Researchers at MO Randy J. Evans, Ph.D., Associate Curator Missouri Botanical Garden P.O. Box 299 St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 USA office phone: + 1-314-577-0865 fax: +1-314-577-9596 email: randy.evans@mobot.org Ph.D., University of Michigan, Botany, 1992 M.S., University of Michigan, Natural Resources, 1984 B.S., University of Missouri, Fisheries and Wildlife, 1977 General Research Interests Tropical conservation Biodiversity inventories Neotropical floristics Research Emphases I am working on sorting out the taxonomies of the morphologically similar neotropical legume genera Tachigali and Sclerolobium (Caesalpiniaceae). Results thus far indicate these are not distinct genera. Most described species of Tachigali (Sclerolobium) are from the Amazon Basin of Brazil. However, many species have been collected only a very few times and therefore a significant amount of fieldwork will be necessary to properly delimit species boundaries. I have obtained funding from the National Geographic Society for a collaborative botanical inventory of the upper Rio Jari Basin in extreme northern Pará, Brazil. Botanists from MO and IAN, the herbarium of the Brazilian Institute for Eastern Amazonian Agroforestry Research (Embrapa), in Belém will conduct this inventory on an expedition scheduled for July 2001. In November 2000, I submitted to NSF's Biotic Surveys and Inventories Program a proposal to conduct inventories of selected groups of plants, fungi, and animals in all major terrestrial ecosystems in eastern Amazonia. The first phase of this project will be a multi-taxon inventory of Caxiuanã National Forest near the lower Amazon River in central Pará. The project is a collaborative effort between MO and the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) in Belém, along with the contributions of a team of investigators from over 20 other North American and Brazilian institutions. Selected Publications Evans, R. J. 2000. Monograph of Colpothrinax (Palmae). Submitted to Palms. Evans, R.J. 1996. Conservation status of Cryosophila with special reference to the critically endangered Cryosophila cookii and Cryosophila williamsii. Principes 40: 129–147. Evans, R.J. 1995. Systematics of Cryosophila (Palmae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 46: 1–70. Evans, R.J. 1992. Cryosophila macrocarpa (Palmae), a new species from Chocó Department, Colombia. Novon 2: 58–61. Updated 10/01/02