Career
In 2004, the herbarium at Millersville University () was dedicated in his honor as the James C. Parks Herbarium. Parks"s taxonomic specialty was on American Compositae (Asteraceae) and American ferns. Doctor Parks conducted his doctoral dissertation on a taxonomic revision of the North American and Caribbean genus Melanthera Rohr (Compositae.
Parks 1968).
Melanthera aspera Rich. ex Spreng. various glabriuscula (Kuntze) J.C.Parks
Melanthera aspera various glabriuscula (Kuntze) J.C.Parks
Parks JC (1968) A revision of the genus Melanthera Rohr (Compositae): in North America and the Caribbean. Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, Vanderbilt University.