David Michener was a teaching curator
at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts when we
met him. He was working to properly identify the thousands of
plants, as well as teaching horticulture and botany classes. We
were so impressed with his clear explanations and depth of
knowledge that we drove to the Arb one fall day in 1990 hoping to
persuade him to come do a talk for a conference we were arranging
in Michigan. What a pleasant surprise to be told, "Oh, but he just
relocated to Michigan, to the University of Michigan Matthaei
Botanical Gardens!"
So, we turned around and caught up with him in Ann Arbor. We've
been friends ever since. There is no more helpful, practical or
credible person to talk to when you need to sort out a plant issue,
and we always come away revitalized by his endless enthusiasm.
David currently serves at University of Michigan Matthaei
Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum on two
interdepartmental academic committees: Museum Studies Program
Faculty Advisory Committee and the 2009-10 Museum Theme Year
Steering Committee for the School of Literature, Science, and the
Arts. He also advises students on specific projects such as
Practical Experience, serves on various graduate student
committees, and in the new undergraduate museum minor. In addition,
he manages students to create interpretation for our collections
and GPS data mapping of our living collection. Both of these
projects are working to create a web-based interactive plant
database.
David holds a B.A. with Highest Honors in Botany from University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Botany
from Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California. David is the
author of numerous technical reports and papers, many for agencies.
He is a long-serving member and past chair of the Editorial
Committee for The Public Garden.
David is the co-author of Taylor's Guide to Groundcovers, and he
has coauthored articles in Horticulture magazine. He co-founded a
landscape design firm in Massachusetts and still helps in designing
when he can, and his own garden has appeared in several
publications, and he is a popular public speaker. David has led
garden-study tours in Asia, Europe, New Zealand, and North
America.