People at MBC

    Chad Husby
    Collections Manager & Botanist

    Montgomery Botanical Center
    11901 Old Cutler Road
    Miami, FL 33156 USA

    305-667-3800 ext. 102
    chad@montgomerybotanical.org

Summary

Dr. Chad Husby joined the Montgomery Botanical Center in 2007 and has since been leading the Collections Development department.  Key activities include acquisition and implementation of new technologies to improve efficiency and support of fieldwork by MBC biologists.  In addition, Chad provides expertise for developing the tropical conifer and flowering tree collections at MBC.

He endeavors to foster greater collaboration among botanical institutions to advance plant collections, plant science and horticulture.  Through collaborative efforts with other botanical institutions in the US and overseas, Chad has greatly expanded the tropical conifer collection at MBC, which has become one of the largest in the Americas with nearly 200 taxa. 

Chad has worked in laboratory research, field research, statistics research, floristic inventory, living collections development, propagation of rare plant species for conservation, and botanical and horticultural education.

Chad’s academic research has focused on plant ecophysiology, biomechanics, horticulture, and statistical sampling.  He is also pursuing work in plant conservation and systematics.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Biology
Florida International University (2009)

Master of Applied Statistics
The Ohio State University (2000)

Master of Science in Horticulture
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2000)

Bachelor of Science, Majors in Biology and Mathematics
Alma College (1997)

Recent research papers

Husby, C. 2013. Biology and functional ecology of Equisetum with emphasis on the giant horsetails.  Botanical Review. doi: 10.1007/s12229-012-9113-4.

Lindstrom. A., M. Calonje, D. Stevenson, C. Husby and A. Taylor. 2013. Clarification of Zamia acuminata and a new Zamia species from Coclé Province, Panama. Phytotaxa 98: 27-42.

Magellan, T. M., S. Cuestas, C. Husby, and M. P. Griffith. 2013. Spent Coffee Grounds Do Not Control Cycad Aulacaspis Scale. HortTechnology 23(2): 201-206.

de Laubenfels, D. J., C. E. Husby, and M. P. Griffith. 2012. Further Nomenclatural Action for the Cypresses (Cupressaceae). Novon 22: 8-15.

Griffith, M. P., M. A. Calonje, D. W. Stevenson, C. E. Husby, and D. P. Little. 2012. Time, place, and relationships: cycad phenology in a phylogenetic and biogeographic context. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 106: 59-81.

Laubengayer, K., S. Zona, E. Santiago-Valentín, C. Husby & J. Francisco-Ortega. 2012. Morphometric analysis of Aiphanes minima (Arecaceae) across the Antilles. Harvard Papers in Botany 17: 299–305.

Reichard, S., H. Liu, and C. Husby. 2012. Is managed relocation of rare plants another pathway for biological invasions? In J. Maschinski and K. E. Haskins (Eds.), Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate (pp. 243-261), Island Press, Washington, DC.

Husby, C. E., J. Delatorre, V. Oreste, S. F. Oberbauer, D. T. Palow, L. Novara, and A. Grau. 2011. Salinity tolerance ecophysiology of Equisetum giganteum in South America: a study of 11 sites providing a natural gradient of salinity stress. AoB Plants doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plr022

Husby C., Determann, R., Moyroud R. and Hall, B. 2010.  Les plantes de nouvelle-calédonie dans les établissements botaniques d’Amérique du nord: un intérêt grandissant pour une flore extraordinairement belle et unique.  Ethnopharmacologia 46:13-16

Calonje, C, C. Husby, and M. Calonje. 2010. Germination and Early Seedling Growth of Rare Zamia spp. in Organic and Inorganic Substrates: Advancing Ex Situ Conservation Horticulture. HortScience 45:679-683.

Namoff, S., C. E. Husby, J. Francisco-Ortega, L. R. Noblick, C. E. Lewis, and M. P. Griffith. 2010. How well does a botanical garden collection of a rare palm capture the genetic variation in a wild population? Biological Conservation 143:1110-1117.


Griffith, M.P. L.R. Noblick, J.L. Dowe, C.E. Husby, and M.A. Calonje.  2008.  Cyclone tolerance in New World Arecaceae:  biogeographic variation and abiotic natural selection. Annals of Botany 102(4):591-598.

Bennett, B.C. and C.E. Husby. 2008.  Patterns of medicinal plant use: an examination of the Ecuadorian Shuar medicinal flora using contingency table and binomial analyses.  Journal of Ethnopharmacology 116(3):422-430.

Husby, C.E., E.A. Stasny, D.A. Wolfe and J.C. Frey.  2007.  A Cautionary Note on Unbalanced Ranked-Set Sampling.  Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation 77(10):869-878.

Husby, C.E., D.A. Wolfe, and E.A. Stasny.  2005.  An Application of Ranked Set Sampling for Mean and Median Estimation Using USDA Crop Production Data.  Journal of Agricultural, Biological & Environmental Statistics 10(3):354-373.

Husby C.E., A.X. Niemiera, J.R. Harris and R.D. Wright.  2003.  Influence of diurnal temperature on nutrient release patterns of three polymer-coated fertilizers.  HortScience 38 (3):387-389.

Recent articles

Husby, C., L. Danielson, L. Noblick, P. Griffith, and A. Strader. 2012. Coccothrinax at the Montgomery Botanical Center. The Palm Journal 202: 12-19.

Husby, C., L. Danielson, A. Strader, E. Witcher, and T. Magellan. 2012. Chamaedorea at the Montgomery Botanical Center. The Palm Journal 199: 42-45.

Husby, C. and G. Tasker. 2012. The Colonel's Conifers. The Tropical Garden.  67(1): 40-45.

Husby, C. E., H. Liu. S. H. Reichard. 2010. Weed risk assessment for botanic garden decision making. Proc. of the 4th Global Botanic Gardens Congress.

Griffith, P., and C. Husby. 2010. The price of conservation: measuring the mission and its cost. BGJournal 7: 12-14.

Griffith, M. P., C. E. Husby, and M. Calonje. 2010. Cycad collections development in the modern context: Challenges, opportunities, investments and outcomes. Proc. of the 4th Global Botanic Gardens Congress.

Calonje, M., C. Husby, and P. Griffith. 2009. The Cycad Collection at Montgomery Botanical Center. Public Garden 24: 25-27.

Noblick, L., C. Husby and P. Griffith.  2008.  The Palm Collection at Montgomery Botanical Center.  Public Garden, the Journal of the American Public Gardens Association 23(2)26-29.

Husby, C.E.   2008.  The Colonel’s conifer legacy, new partnerships in long-term conservation.  Montgomery Botanical News 16(1):5.

Husby, C.E.  2007.  Spira Mirabilis – Spiral Form in Cycads.  Montgomery Botanical News.  Montgomery Botanical News 15(2):5/.

Field experience 

Argentina (2004)

Belize (2010)

Chile (2002, 2004, 2006)

Dominican Republic (2012)

Jamaica (2004)

New Caledonia (2008)
  
New Zealand (2008)

Scotland (2007)

Panama (2001)

United States (2011)

Service

Chair, Warm Climate Conifer Curatorial Group, American Public Gardens Association

Board of Directors, The Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden

Reviewer for American Journal of Botany;  “A Field Guide to Ferns and their Related Families”, Houghton-Mifflin Publishers.  2005

Volunteer judge and teacher,  The Fairchild Challenge

Coordinator, Environmental Immersion Day at MBC, in collaboration with The Fairchild Challenge

Membership

American Public Gardens Association

Botanical Society of America

American Conifer Society

Tropical Flowering Tree Society

Web authorship

The Giant Horsetails


Recent presentations

“Conifers”  Better Understanding through the Study of Horticulture, monthly meeting, Broward County Extension Education Division, Davie, FL, May 8, 2009

“Tropical Conifers.”  Refining Your Garden:  A Tropical Gardening Symposium, Mounts Botanical Garden, West Palm Beach, FL, February 7, 2009

“Ecophysiology and Biomechanics of Equisetum giganteum in South America”, Dissertation defense, Florida International University, Miami, FL, March 24, 2009

“Sharing and conserving plants in the 21st century”, a conservation botanical garden perspective.  American Public Gardens Association Annual Conference, Pasadena, California, June 26, 2008

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11901 Old Cutler Road • Coral Gables, Florida  33156 USA
(305) 667-3800  •  FAX (305) 667-5984