Language Notes
About the Author
As a boy in Hawaii,
James D. Ackerman pulled weeds from his grandfather's extensive orchid plantings. A disdain for weeds developed, but a fondness for orchids persisted. He completed a master's degree in 1976 at Humboldt State University in California, and went to Florida State University for doctoral studies under the direction of Norris Williams. His dissertation work on orchids and euglossine bees was done in Panama at the Smithsonian Tropical research Institute. In 1981, he took a job at teh Rio Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. He has since become Professor and Director of the Department of Biology, and has published more than 40 scientific articles, most of which deal with orchid poliination and systematics.
De nino,
James D. Ackerman arranco yerba en los extensos cultivos de orquideas de su abuelo. Asi desarrollo su aversion a las yerbas malas y su amor a las orquideas. Ackerman termino su maestria en 1976 en Humboldt State University, California y fue a Florida State University para obtener el doctorado bajo la direccion de Norris Williams. Su tesis doctoral, sobre orquideas y abejas, la realizo en el Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute de Panama. desde 1981 trabaja en el Recinto de Rio Piedras de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, donde ha llegado a ser Profesor y Director del Departamento de Biologia, y ha publicado mas de 40 articulos, la mayor parte sobre polinizacion y sistematica de la sorquideas.
Maruja Del Castillo Mayda studied art in her native Salamanca, at the Academia Real de Arte "San Fernando" in Madrid, and with the well-known painter and teacher E. Chicharro. after a successful career in portraits and still-life, including almost a decade in Washington, D.C., she moved to Puerto Rico in 1966. An amateur naturalist, she developed an interest in native orchids and began to piant this collection in 1973, starting with an oncidium found on a sailing trip to Culebra.!
Maruja Del Castillo Mayda estudio arte en Salamanca, su ciudad natal, en la Academia Real de Arte "San Fernando" en Madrid, y con el conocido pintor y maestro E. Chicharro. Luego de una exitosa carrera en retratos y naturaleza muerta y casi diez anos en Washington, D.C., se mudo a Puerto Rico en 1966. Naturalista for aficion desarrollo gran interes por las orquideas nativas y comenzo a pintar esta coleccion en 1973 con una oncidium que se encontro en un viaje por mar a la isla de Culebra.
