Philip Rundel Named Director of UCLA Botanical Garden

 

PHOTO COURTESY UCLA Dr. Philip Rundel is an expert on California’s plants and passionate about conservation and education.

The Dean of UCLA Life Sciences, Victoria Sork, has recently announced the appointment of Topangan Dr. Philip W. Rundel, Distinguished Professor of Biology, as director of the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA.

“Dr. Rundel’s impeccable scientific pedigree, vast leadership experience, and passion for conservation of plant ecosystems make him ideally suited to lead one of UCLA’s most beloved and scientifically important treasures,” stated Sork in a letter to faculty.

The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden is a living museum of unusual plants, with special collections that benefit both the teaching and research missions on campus. Serving as a refugium for biodiversity, it offers its educational content to the campus community, residents of Los Angeles, and visitors from around the world to enhance learning about plants and promote greater appreciation for relevance of plants to society. The Garden is also a special place of beauty and reflection for our campus community and neighbors.

A member of the UCLA faculty since 1983, Dr. Rundel holds joint appointments in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. He also serves as faculty director of UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve, a field station for education and research in the Santa Monica Mountains. He was involved with the establishment of the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, and in 2011 received the UCLA Distinguished Teacher Award. He is an Adjunct Research Professor at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. A fifth generation Californian, he earned his undergraduate degree from Pomona College and Masters and Ph.D. degrees from Duke University.

Dr. Rundel’s research has centered on the ecology, biodiversity and conservation biology of plants and plant communities in arid and semi-arid regions, with a particular focus on comparative studies of the world’s five mediterranean-climate ecosystems. He is an expert on California’s plants and passionate about conservation and education.