GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Walter Judd, a University of Florida distinguished professor of biology and Florida Museum of Natural History affiliate curator of botany, received the Botanical Society of America's 2012 Merit Award, the society's highest honor.
The award recognizes individuals who demonstrate excellence in research, education and public policy, and also provide exceptional service to the botanical community.
Judd, known for his contributions to plant systematics, taxonomy and phylogenetics, accepted the award in July during the society's annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. He has taught at UF since 1978 and led a class in tropical botany for the past 30 years at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and the National Tropical Botanical Garden, in Miami.
His research focuses on the Melastomataceae and Ericaceae families, which include meadow-beauty, blueberry, azalea and rhododendron, and the distribution and evolutionary relationships of the plant species over the southeastern United States and the West Indies.
Judd is lead author of the popular undergraduate textbook, "Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach."
