John Pipoly III

Dr. John Pipoly received his Bachelor’s degree in Botany from Michigan State University; his M. Phil. and Ph. D. in systematic biology from the joint program of the City University of New York and the New York Botanical Garden. Subsequently, he carried out postdoctoral studies at the Smithsonian Institution, and was a Contract Specialist at EPA Headquarters, where he was awarded a Bronze Medal. He is a Fellow of the Linnaean Society, which he has held for nearly 30 years as a result of his worldwide plant exploration.

John has published nearly 150 original research papers among internationally peer-reviewed journals and conducted fieldwork throughout the Tropical Americas, the Philippines and New Guinea. He is an authority on the classification of the Marlberry and St. John's Wort plant families as well as tropical tree architectural models. He has also published on tropical forest biodiversity in the Amazon and SE Pacific regions as well as creating a new model for integrated conservation and development areas in the Tropics. He is currently producing a toolbox for environmental and sustainable development educators and is a certified trainer of instructors for community engagement. He represents North American scientists as a Corresponding Member to the Colombian National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences.

John is program coordinator for the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math)/Environmental Education Program, within the Public Communications Group of the Broward County Parks and Recreation Division. As a scientific liaison, he serves on various Broward County Intergovernmental Committees related to sustainable development, green government, and related environmental resilience areas. His specific duties include scientific outreach to schools, universities, municipal, state and federal governments, NGOs, to enhance programming in environmental- and education for sustainable development, and to foment use of Broward County Parks, natural areas and nature centers as venues for innovative experiential learning. John works with all of the Environmental Educators of the Division, collaborates with the Florida League of Environmental Educators, the North American Association for Environmental Education, the National Recreation and Parks Association and the American Public Gardens Association. John is also the liaison for the Parks Foundation, supervises the Volunteer Program and is our Grants Administrator.