Lynn Clark.

Fort Hunt class of 1975.

The world leader on bamboos, internationally recognized for her expertise in plant systematics [plant classification].

While at Fort Hunt high school she invested her summers across the bridge in Washington DC on the National Mall, working at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History where she learned from the curator of grasses, bamboo expert Thomas Soderstrom.

Fast forward to early 2025, she was awarded by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History with the Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany.

Having named over 100 species, Lynn Clark is recognized as the world’s leading expert in woody bamboos.

Lynn is a professor at Iowa State University, Department of Ecology Evolution and Organismal Biology.

At Iowa State she serves as Director of the Ada Hayden Herbarium.

Lynn has been presented with the Iowa State University Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research.

Co-author of American Bamboos, published in 1999 by Smithsonian books.

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