Authors

Harold Koopowitz

Harold Koopowitz is professor emeritus of ecology at the University of California at Irvine. Previously, he was the director of the University of California at Irvine Arboretum for 20 years when it specialized in African bulbous and cormous plants. Koopowitz has long-standing interests in the hybridization of a variety of specialist plants, including slipper orchids and bulbs such as daffodils, clivias and adeniums. He has travelled extensively to study orchids in the wild and is diligent in his efforts to encourage discussion about endangered plants. The results of his devotion include numerous scientific papers on orchids, deforestation and the effects of long conversion on plant extinctions. He is a long-standing member of the conservation committee of the American Orchid Society and a member of the Orchid Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission. In 2003 he was awarded the Herbert Medal, the highest honour that the International Bulb Society can bestow upon a person for meritorious achievement in advancing the knowledge of bulbous plants. The author of several books on horticulture and conservation, Koopowitz is currently editor-in-chief for the Orchid Digest. He resides in Santa Ana, California.