1/16/2017 3:40:00 PM

In January of 2017 three generations of Miami University (MU) Botanists came together on Eleuthera to study the flora of the Bahamas. A group of botany students and professors, led by Dr. Michael A. Vincent, traveled to the Eleuthera during their winter semester to conduct a Bahamian plant taxonomy field course. During their visit, Dr. Ethan Fried, resident Botanist at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, and Mark Daniels, the Bahamas National Trust’s (BNT) New Providence Parks Manager, both participated in the field studies that took place at the Preserve and across the island of Eleuthera. Both Dr. Freid and Mark Daniels are graduates of MU’s botany program.  Mark is the most recent Bahamian graduate of Miami University’s botany program, earning his Master of Science in Botany in 2016 while working on the structure and diversity of the Bahamian coppice. Dr. Vincent served as professor at the University during both Ethan’s and Mark’s graduate studies, also acting as Mark’s lead advisor on his Master’s committee.

This recent trip highlights the long history of Miami University’s connection to the Bahamas and the Bahamas National Trust. Since the 1940s, professors and students have studying the Botany of the Bahamas have published over 150 papers, theses, and dissertations over the decades. In recent years Bahamians have attended Miami University to work on fields outside of botany including environmental science, anthropology, marine science and geology.

Levy Preserve