Lamoureux, Charles H.
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A native of Rhode Island, Lamoureux received his bachelor's degree in botany from the University of Rhode Island. He came to Hawai'i and completed a master's degree at UHM and later earned his PhD in botany from the University of California at Davis in 1961. He joined the UH faculty in 1959.
Through his 41-year span at the University, Lamoureux held many administrative roles, from Chair of the Botany Department to associate dean for academic affairs in the UHM Colleges of Arts and Sciences. From 1992 until his death (2000), he served as Director of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa's botanical garden. Nestled in Manoa Valley, the arboretum is a research unit of the University and aims to develop new plants for Hawaiian gardens as well as rescue some of Hawai'i's rarest varieties from extinction. It also has an education program that offers noncredit classes to students ranging in age from 5 to 90.
As a researcher, he did field work in American Samoa, Bali, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. A world authority on plants, Lamoureux was consultant to such agencies as the Hawai'i State Department of Business and Economic Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He wrote more than 50 scientific papers on botanical subjects and was a member of several professional and scientific societies. "He was a fabulous botanist and just so knowledgeable of all kinds of plants - I'll miss his personality and tremendous in-depth knowledge in Hawaiian plants and systems," UHM Botany Department Chair Sterling Keeley said. "It's an especially great loss to us."
"He was like an encyclopedia to you, you could always go there to get the answers," she added. Among the thousands of students Lamoureux taught through the years, several have become botanists. His more famous students, each of whom learned something about Hawaiian plants in his courses, include former Hawai'i Superintendent of Education Herman Aizawa, Lieutenant Governor Mazie Hirono and Hawaiian musician Sistah Robi Kahakalau.
"Through his work on various conservation and environmental committees, and through the thousands of students who learned their botany and natural history from him, his influence has been felt worldwide," said Lyon Arboretum colleague Ray Baker.
Professor Charles H. Lamoureux died in 2000. He was 67. Charles H. Lamoureux Fellowship in Plant Conservation was established in his honor.
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Professor of Botany (1959-2000)
PhD Botany 1961, University of California at Davis
Student Mentoring: 11 PhD, 20 MS students
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ItemPhenology and growth of Hawaiian plants, a preliminary report(Island Ecosystems IRP, U.S. International Biological Program, 1973-06)Observations on phenology and growth of several Hawaiian plants between January 1971 and June 1972 are presented. Most species exhibit some seasonality in flowering, fruiting, flushing, and (at least in deciduous species) leaf fall. Most phenophases show single annual peaks, but durations of phenophases generally extend over periods of several months, and onset and cessation of most phenophases in gradual rather than sharply marked. In Acacia koa the flowering peak occurred between December 1971 and February 1972 in plots on the Mauna Loa Strip Road, and in October 1971 in the Kilauea Forest Reserve, but all plots showed considerable winter flowering. However, little or no flowering took place in the winter of 1970-71. At higher elevations peak flushing was during summer months, at lower elevations during winter and spring. In Sophora chrysophylla flowering and flushing took place throughout the year without pronounced peaks at Kipuka Nene. Plots at 6000 and 6700 feet on the Strip Road showed flowering throughout the year, but with pronounced winter peaks. At 4000 and 5150 feet on the Strip Road the flowering peak was during winter and no summer flowering was found. Peak flushing occurred during spring and summer in all Strip Road plots. Cheirodendron trigynum shows peak flowering in summer, peak flushing in winter and spring. Sapindus saponaria flushes in spring, flowers in summer, and loses its leaves in winter. Diospyros ferrea flushes throughout the year, but most heavily in fall and winter; peak flowering is during winter and spring. Erythrina sandwicensis loses its leaves in spring, flowers during summer, and flushes in the fall. Ilex anomala flushes in spring, shows peak flowering in summer with flowering extending into fall and winter. Coprosma ochracea has peak flushing and flowering simultaneously in spring. Myrsine lessertiana has peak flushing in spring, with a less pronounced flush in fall; the flowering peak is in the late winter, continuing through spring. Myoporum sandwicense shows peak flowering in summer and fall; flushing seems to occur throughout the year. Santalum ellipticum flowers and flushes throughout the year, with peaks for both extending from summer to fall. Dodonaea viscosa seems to flush throughout the year; peak flowering occurs in fall and extends into winter and spring. All species examined show cambial activity throughout the year, but growth rates vary from month to month. It has not been possible to demonstrate correlations between rainfall and growth rates.
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ItemBiological survey of the proposed access road and Well Site 1(True/Mid-Pacific Geothermal Venture, 1987-11-14)On 14 November 1987 a biological baseline survey was conducted of the proposed access road and well site 1. The road and well site had recently been surveyed and staked; reference is made throughout this report to "stake # __", the surveyor's stakes placed at irregular intervals along the access road.
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ItemThe fern genus Nephrolepsis in Hawaii(Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Botany, 1982-06)