KATHLEEN M. PETERSON 1948-2003

2004·1.9 MB·Scottish Gaelic

by  James L Reveal

KATHLEENM.PETERSON
1948-2003
JamesL.ReveaP
UniversityofMaryland
CollegePark,Maryland20742,U.S.A.
TheNewYorkBotanicalGarden
Bronx,NewYork10458-5126,U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
KathleenM.Peterson(1948-2003)isrememberedasastudent,giltedteacher,skilledbotanist,law-
yer,andfriendallasanintroductionoianewspeciesofScutellaria(Lamiaceae)fromMexiconamed
inherhonor.
KEYWORDS:Scutedarit),i-amiaceae,Mexico,obituary
RHSUMEN
KathleenM.Peterson(1948-2003)esrecordadacomounaestudiante,profesoracontalento,botanica
depericia.abogada,yamiga,todocomounaintroducciondeunanuevaespeciedeSculdlaria
{Lamiaceae)deMexiconombradaensuhonor.
ThenoticeintheHarrisburg,Pennsylvania,paper,thePatriot-News,published
onNovember26,2003wasshort:"KathleenM.Peterson,55,ofCampHill,died
Monday,November24,2003at HospiceofCentral Pennsylvania,Carolyn
CroxtonSlaneResidence.ShewasanattorneyforthePennsylvaniaTreasury
Department.Serviceswillbeheldattheconvenienceofthefamily.Arrange-
mentsarebytheCremationSocietyolPennsylvania,Harrisburg."Nothingwas
mentionedofthepersonorherlifeasabotanist;wehopeourwordsandactions
inproposingScutellariapetersoniae(Turner&Reveal2004)insomeway,will
rectifytheoversightforitiswithsadnessthatwenotetothebotanicalcommu-
nitythepassingofKathyMargaretPeterson.
KathyPetersonwasagraduatestudentattheUniversityofMarylandtrom
1973until1978,whereshereceivedherdoctoraldegree,workingonaportion
ofthemintgenusSalvia.HermastersthesiswasdonewithDr.WillardPayne
(ThegenusHymenocIea(Compo.sitae:Ai)ibro.sicae),jSrittonia25:243-256.1973)
attheUniversityofIllinois(1969-1971)whereshetookherundergraduatede-
greein1969.Thetwoofthemalsopublished"Observationsofthehypoder-
misesofferns"intheAmericanb'crnjournal(63:34-42.1973).Basedonherwork
atMaryland,shepublished"Sti/viareptans.Lahiatae"withRaymondM.Harley
oftheRoyalBotanicalGarden,Kew,England,inCurtis'sBotanicalMagazine
^Mailingaddress:18625SpringCanyonRoad,Montrose,Colorado81401-7906,U.S.A.
SIDA21(2):1239-1243.2004
1240 BRIT.ORG/5IDA21(2)
(182:13-16.1978).Asinallpaperspublishedinthatjournal,theircommentswere
accompaniedbyabeautiful,full-pagecoloredpaintingofthespecies.
HerresearchonSalviawassupportedbyagrantfromtheNational,Geo-
graphicSocietyandaDoctoralDissertationImprovementGrantfromtheNa-
tionalScienceFoundation.Together,sheandRevealpresentedareportentitled
"Biosystematicandevolutionarystudiesof SalviasubgenusCalosphacc''that
waspublishedintheSociety'sRc.s'CdrcliReports(15:557-564.1983).Ofamore
personalnaturewasanarticleoftheirtravelsinMexico("Hxploringthegreen
frontier" by Broome, Reveal and Peterson published in the Universityof
Maryland'sGraduateSchoolChronicle10(4):3-6.1977).C.RoseBroomeand
KathyspentamonthcollectingpriortobeingjoinedbyRevealandHarleyat
thesilverminingtownofToluca.TogethertheyexploredaportionofGuerrero
thathadnotbeenvisitedbotanicallyforseveraldecades.Thenewiindswere
numerous. Among them were Bouvardia hintoniorum, Galium iltisii,
Hanstemiaharlevi, Monlanoa revealii,Salviaturneri,Sindairiahroomeae,
Tibouchinapatens,andanewgenusRevealia.
ThemostbeautiiuladditionmadeduringtheirjointtripacrosstheSierra
MadredelSurwasawonderlulnewspeciesnamedUtrieulariapctersoniaeby
PeterTaylor(.KewBull.41:8.1986).itwasafittingtributetoKathy,tallandslen-
deryetgracefulwithanelegantbeauty.
KathywasborninOakPark,Illinois,onMarch10,1948.Hereshespenther
youth,attendinglocalgradeandhighschoolsbeforeenteringtheUniversityof
Illinoisin1965.Thereshemajoredinbotanywithminorsinchemistryandge-
ology.Asayoungstershewastall,tallerthanmostboysherage,andthiswould
continuetobethecasethroughoutherlife.Shehadeleganceabouther,borne
byherheightsothatintheclassroomshewasapresence.AtMarylandshetu-
toredstrugglingathletes,andwasmostelfectiveasshecouldintimidatethe
largestfootballplayerandlookmanyabasketballplayerintheeye.1lerwit
wasappreciatedbutherstrengthwasasateacher.In1978shereceivedtheCar-
rollE.Coxawardastheoutstandinggraduatestudent;duringthef978-f979
academicyearshewasappointedaninstructoratCollegePark.Shedeparted
soonthereaftertoacceptapositionasanassistantprolessorattheUniversity
ofMontana.Herskillintheclassroomcontinued,forKathytaughtavarietyof
classesandsoonhadasmallgroupol studentsworkingongraduatedegrees,
beingnamed"KP"todistinguishherfromtheotherKathysinthegroup.Aug-
mented bygrantsfromtheNationalScienceFoundationandNationalGeo-
graphicSocietyshecontinuedherworkonSalvia.Otherfundingallowedher
andherstudentstoworkon\'ariousrareandendangeredspeciesinMontana.
AmongherstudentswereJeffreyStrachannowwiththePlantVarietyProtec-
tionOffice,U.S.Departmentof Agriculture,LisaCampbellofTheNewYork
BotanicalGarden,JenniferRamstetter,aprolessorol biologyatMarlboroCol-
lege,andKathyAhlenslageroltheU.S.ForestServicewhowrotearecentobitu-
REVEAL,KATHLEENM.PETERSON 1241
ary(Ahlenslager2004),PerhapshergreatestcontributiontotheUniversityof
Montanacamemtheformofherefforttoupgradetheherbariumbyhiringa
coflectionsmanager,findingvoiunteerstomountandfilethousandsofplant
specimens,andtodistributealargebacklogaccumulatedoverthedecades.
ProfessionaflyKathymovedupward.Besidesherteachingdutiesshedi-
rectedtheoperationsoftheUniversity'snaturalhistorymuseum,vv^rotesev-
eralresearchpapers,servedontheeditoriaiboardofSystematicBotany,and
waspresidentoftheUniversityofMontanaSigmaXichapterIn1984shewas
promotedtotherankofassociateprofessor,andin1986shereceivedtenue.
AlongwithtenuretheUniversityawardedhera"meritoriousteachingandre-
searchsalaryincrease."Mostofherpublicationsatthistimedealtwithrare
plantspeciesinMontana.Theyinclude"Vascularplantsoflimiteddistribu-
tionmMontana"(Lesica,P.,G.Moore,K.M.Peterson,andj.fi.RumlcyMontana
Acad.Sci.Monogr.2:1-61.1984)andasummaryreportonrareplantsinthestate
(Peterson,K.M.,RLesicaSrJ.S.ShellyProceedingso/the1986NtitKra;Arca.sCon-
jcrence,pp.97-113).
Then,in1987,shesuddenlyresignedherposition,leftMontana,andbotany
aswell,allforwhatprovedtobeanunfortunate,short-fivedmarriagewhich
endedformallyindivorcem1994.
FindingherselfinPennsylvania,KathybegananewcareerShewascerti-
fiedasaparalegalbyPennsylvaniaStateUniversityinMarchoff989andthen
attendedTheDickinsonSchoolofLawwhereshewasav^ardedherJ.D.in1992.
DuringthistimeshewasamemberoftheDickinsonLawReviewandtheAp-
pellateMootCourtBoard;shealsoservedontheeditorialboardoftheDickin-
sonjournalofEnvironmentalLawandPolicy.IntheRevicMishepublishedan
articleentitled"Federalregulationofartificialinseminationdonorscreening
practices:Anopportunityforfawtoco-evolvewithmedicine,"atitleonlyabi-
ologistwouldthinkof.Herinterestinitiallywasmenvironmentallaw,work-
ingasaninternfortheDepartmentofEnvironmentalResources(1991-1992)
andasalawclerkforthestate'sTreasuryDepartment.InAugustof1992,two
monthsbeforebeingadmittedtothePennsylvaniaBar,shebecametheAssis-
tantGeneralCounselforTreasury.
Asalawyer,KathydraftedbankingservicecontractsbetweentheTreasury
andbanks,preparedwhitepapersonStateWorkers'InsuranceFundandtheFed-
eralReserveSystem,didgenerallegalresearchonbankingandethicsissues,and
providedlitigationsupportfortheGeneralCounsel.InSeptemberof1995she
waspromotedtotheDepartment'sAssociateGeneraiCounsel.Inthisposition,
sherepresentedtheStateTreasureronvariouscommittees,includingtheBoard
ofDirectorsofPennsylvania'schapterofTheNatureConservancy
In1999,KathydiscoveredthatshehadovariancancerInitiallythecombi-
nationofchemotherapyandradiationwassuccessful,andduringmostoithis
timeshecontinuedtoservethecitizensofPennsylvania.In2001herdoctors
1242 BRIT.ORG/SIDA21(2)
KathleenM.Peterson(1948-2003).
.
REVEAL,KATHLEENM.PETERSON 1243
foundalesiononthebrain.Itwasremovedsurgically,andshereturnedtowork
determinedtobeatthenewlyfoundcancerTwoweeksaftersurgeryshefell
andaMRIfoundmorelesions.Asecondroundofsurgerywasperformed,but
herchancesofsurvivalweregreatlydiminished.Uptotheend,Kathywasa
strong,stalwartwoman,loosingabattletocancerthattwoandhalfyearseariy
claimedherbrother,andmonthsbeforeherowndeath,tookhermotherItisin
Kathysmemorythatwededicatethefollowingnewspecies.
ACKNOWLHDGK'IENTS
WearegratefultoCarlPeterson,KathyAhlenslagerandJeffStrachanforpro-
vidinguswithinsightsintoKathy'slife.
REFERF.NCF.S
AHLLNSLAGER,K.2004.KathyPeterson(1948-2003).FriendsUniv.MontanaHerbSpnng2004:1,
5.
Turner,B.L.andJ.L.Reveal.2004.Scutellariapetersonlae[Lamlaceae),anewspeciesfrom
Guerrero,Mexico.Sida21:679-681