SUMNER, Judith H. 1951- (Laura Craig)

PERSONAL: Born May 24, 1951, in MA. Education: Vassar College, A.B., 1972; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.S., 1974, Ph.D., 1976.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Department of Natural Sciences, Assumption College, 500 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01615.

CAREER: Botanist and educator. University of Southern Maine, Portland, visiting assistant professor of biology, 1976-78; Maryville College, assistant professor, 1978-82, associate professor of biology, 1982-90; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, faculty member at Arnold Arboretum, 1990—, and visiting scientist for Learning about Plants program; Assumption College, Worcester, MA, associate professor of biology, 1994—; Museum Institute for Teaching Science, faculty member for Boston-area museums, 1996—. Presenter of workshops and short courses; visiting researcher at Bishop Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, British Museum of Natural History, and Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris France; director of field projects in Pacific region, Appalachian Mountains, Great Lakes, New England, Rocky Mountains, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park; member of education committees for Garden in the Woods, New England Wild Flower Society, and Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Worcester County Horticultural Society; botanical consultant in archaeology, and science education consultant to Technical Advisory Service for Attorneys, Aluminum Company of America, Popham Village Excavation Project, and others.

MEMBER: Linnaean Society (London, England; fellow), New England Wild Flower Society (faculty member, 1990—; education director, 1993-94).

AWARDS, HONORS: Smithsonian Institution fellow at Museum of Natural History, 1976; grants from Southern Regional Education Board, 1979, 1985-88, and Mellon Foundation (for England), 1987; Excellence in Teaching Award, Alcoa Foundation, 1988.

WRITINGS:

The Natural History of Medicinal Plants, Timber Press (Portland, OR), 2000.

Contributor to books, including New Perspectives on Teaching and Learning, edited by Warren Bryan Martin, Jossey-Bass (San Francisco, CA), 1981. Author of monthly column in Horticulture, under pseudonym Laura Craig. Contributor to periodicals, including American Journal of Botany.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A book on American ethno-botany; a book on the evolution of flowering plants.

SIDELIGHTS: Judith H. Sumner told CA: "I am a classically trained botanist with a background in flowering plant morphology, anatomy, and evolution. My interest in writing about medicinal plants in their natural habitats stems from a lifelong interest in botanical adaptations for survival. The secondary compounds produced by plants guard them against herbivores and other natural threats; coincidentally, we can use these same compounds as effective human medicines. Four-fifths of the world's population still depends directly on plant-based medicines, and we look to plants to provide new pharmaceutical drugs to conquer cancer and AIDS. My purpose in writing The Natural History of Medicinal Plants was to elucidate the evolution of plant medicines and relate them to both their natural functions and the history of human medicine."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

American Biology Teacher, September, 2001, James E. Mickle, review of The Natural History of Medicinal Plants, p. 537.

Booklist, September 15, 2000, David Siegfried, review of The Natural History of Medicinal Plants, p. 196.

Choice, February, 2001, C. T. Mason, Jr., review of The Natural History of Medicinal Plants, p. 1106.