Background
Judith Sumner, also known as Laura Craig, was born May 24, 1951, in Massachusetts, United States. Judith grew up just outside of Boston near a pond and several farms visiting the local farmers.
Judith Sumner
124 Raymond Ave, Poughkeepsie, New York 12604, United States
Judith Sumner graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1972.
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
Judith Sumner graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she took her Master of Science in 1974 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1976.
2019
4079 Albany Post Rd, Hyde Park, New York 12538, United States
Judith Sumner talking about her book Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II (2019) at Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, September 6, 2019.
2019
4079 Albany Post Rd, Hyde Park, New York 12538, United States
Judith Sumner talking about her book Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II (2019) at Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, September 6, 2019.
124 Raymond Ave, Poughkeepsie, New York 12604, United States
Judith Sumner graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1972.
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
Judith Sumner graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she took her Master of Science in 1974 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1976.
Judith Sumner
(Wild and cultivated plants have provided humans with cure...)
Wild and cultivated plants have provided humans with cures for thousands of years. Aspirin, for example, the most widely used drug in the Western pharmacopoeia, was first isolated from willows to treat fever, pain, and inflammation. Writing for the lay reader, the author surveys the history of the use of plants in medicine, the range of chemicals produced by plants, and the prospects for future discoveries. This book is only available through print on demand. All interior art is black and white.
https://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Medicinal-Plants/dp/0881929573
2000
(In this fascinating book, a celebrated author rescues fro...)
In this fascinating book, a celebrated author rescues from the pages of history the practical experience and botanical wisdom of generations of Americans.
https://www.amazon.com/American-Household-Botany-History-1620-1900-ebook/dp/B001N2NAW4
2004
(As the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go...)
As the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go to War examines military history from the perspective of plant science. From victory gardens to drugs, timber, rubber, and fibers, plants supplied materials with key roles in the victory. Vegetables provided the wartime diet both in North America and Europe, where vitamin-rich carrots, cabbages, and potatoes nourished millions. Chicle and cacao provided the chewing gum and chocolate bars in military rations. In England and Germany, herbs replaced pharmaceutical drugs; fever bark was in demand to treat malaria, and penicillin culture used a growth medium made from corn. Rubber was needed for gas masks and barrage balloons, while cotton and hemp provided clothing, canvas, and rope. Timber was used to manufacture Mosquito bombers, and wood gasification and coal replaced petroleum in European vehicles. Lebensraum, the Nazi desire for agricultural land, drove Germans eastward; troops weaponized conifers with shell bursts that caused splintering. Ironically, the Nazis condemned non-native plants but adopted useful Asian soybeans and Mediterranean herbs. Jungle warfare and camouflage required botanical knowledge, and survival manuals detailed edible plants on the Pacific islands. Botanical gardens relocated valuable specimens to safe areas, and while remote locations provided opportunities for field botany, Trees surviving in Hiroshima and Nagasaki live as a symbol of rebirth after vast destruction.
https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Go-War-Botanical-History/dp/1476676127
2019
Botanist educator scientist writer
Judith Sumner, also known as Laura Craig, was born May 24, 1951, in Massachusetts, United States. Judith grew up just outside of Boston near a pond and several farms visiting the local farmers.
Judith Sumner graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1972 and completed graduate studies in Botany at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she took her Master of Science in 1974 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1976.
Sumner also studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at the British Museum (Natural History) and did extensive fieldwork in the Pacific region on the genus Pittosporum.
Judith Sumner has taught and lectured extensively including the University of Southern Maine, Portland as visiting assistant professor of Biology from 1976 to 1978, Maryville College, as an assistant professor, 1978-1982, and an associate professor of Biology, 1982-1990, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Cambridge, as a faculty member from 1990.
Sumner served as a visiting scientist for several summers in the LEAP (Learning About Plants) program at Harvard for Boston school teachers and has volunteered as a National Public Radio Science Mentor.
She has also spent summers beginning from 1996 working as a faculty member with teachers the Museum Institutes for Teaching Science (MITS) program and conducting workshops and courses on science writing for Boston-area museums.
Judith was hired as an associate professor of Biology at Assumption College, Worcester from 1994, a visiting researcher at Bishop Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, British Museum of Natural History, and Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
Her other projects and areas of interest have included directing the field studies in the Pacific region, the Appalachian Mountains, Great Lakes, New England, Rocky Mountains, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, work with AID/Santo Domingo on developing petroleum-rich plants, and a commitment to science education.
Judith Sumner was a member of education committees for Garden in the Woods, New England Wild Flower Society, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and Worcester County Horticultural Society, as well as a botanical consultant in archaeology, and science education consultant to Technical Advisory Service for Attorneys, Aluminum Company of America, Popham Village Excavation Project.
She has published monographic studies in the American Journal of Botany, Pollen et Spores, and Allertonia, as well as monographing two families for Flora Vitiensis Nova. Her column The Gardener’s Kitchen (under the pseudonym Laura Craig) appeared in Horticulture magazine for several years.
Sumner is an author of The Natural History of Medicinal Plants (2000), American Household Botany (2004), and a contributor to books, including New Perspectives on Teaching and Learning (1981).
Judith has been the lecturer-in-residence at the Star Island Natural History Conference, and she has been a guest on the Martha Stewart Living television show, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) program "Cultivating Life" with Sean Conway, and various other PBS and educational programs. She recently presented a First Friday lecture at the Boston Museum of Science and was a featured lecturer at the Herb Society annual meeting in the United States.
Judith Sumner is a writer and a contributor to numerous award-winning books such as New Perspectives on Teaching and Learning (1981), The Natural History of Medicinal Plants (2000), American Household Botany: A History of Useful Plants, 1620-1900 (2004), and articles to many magazines including Horticulture, American Journal of Botany, Pollen et Spores, Flora Vitiensis Nova, and Allertonia.
Sumner has directed lots of educational and other programs: Learning About Plants, Museum Institutes for Teaching Science, as well as research and fieldwork in the Pacific region, Appalachian Mountains, Great Lakes, New England, Rocky Mountains, and Great Smoky Mountains.
Judith is a recipient of the Smithsonian Institution fellowship from Museum of Natural History (1976), several grants from Southern Regional Education Board (1979, 1985-1988), and Mellon Foundation grant, England (1987).
(In this fascinating book, a celebrated author rescues fro...)
2004(As the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go...)
2019(Wild and cultivated plants have provided humans with cure...)
2000Judith Sumner's 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, these same compounds can be used as effective human medicines. Four-fifths of the world's population still depends directly on plant-based medicines, and she looks to plants to provide new pharmaceutical drugs to conquer cancer and AIDS.
Judith Sumner is a fellow of London's Linnaean Society.
Linnaean Society , United Kingdom
Sumner is a faculty member of the New England Wild Flower Society since 1990 and was the Education Director from 1993 to 1994.
New England Wild Flower Society , United States
Herb Society of America , United States
American Horticultural Society , United States
