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Michael B. Thomas
Born
Morris County, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Florida; Virginia Tech
Known forFlora of the tropical Pacific Islands, Herbarium management; specimen digitization; ethnobotany; conservation
Scientific career
FieldsEthnobiology, Botany, Ethnobotany, Biodiversity informatics, Conservation
WorkplacesUniversity of Florida; University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Michael B. Thomas is an American botanist, ethnobotanist, who has worked in herbarium curations, biodiversity informatics, and plant conservation. [1] [2]

Early life and influences

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Thomas was raised in the rural Pennsylvania Dutch country of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a region strongly shaped by Amish and Mennonite communities and agricultural traditions. [3] Lancaster County has been described as a place deeply connected to the land and farming landscape. [4]

Education

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He graduated from Conestoga Valley High School, where he developed an interest in the natural sciences.[3] He later attended Delaware State University [5], and Virginia Tech before studying at the University of Florida, where he earned a PhD in 2001. [6] His doctoral research in Bahia, Brazil, examined the ethnopharmacopeia of the Indigenous Pataxó community and included collaboration with indigenous practitioners of traditional medicine to document medicinal plant knowledge. [6] This research also explored the use of the internet and database technologies to organize, manage and publish medicinal plant data. [7] His master's research focused on the identification of N, K, MG, MN, ZN and FE deficiency symptoms of carambola, lychee, and papaya grown in sand culture. [8]

Following graduation form Virginia Tech with a BSc. in forestry, Thomas served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga. [3] [5] He later worked in more than 20 countries as an agribusiness consultant through USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer Program including assignments supporting avocado production and value-chain development in Myanmar. [9]

Peace Corps service

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Thomas served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga from 1989-1993.[5] He was assigned to Tonga's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and worked at the Vaini research station on tropical fruit crop production and crop introduction. [5] As an advisor to the government, he traveled widely throughout the Pacific islands of Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Hawai'i and the outer islands of Tonga. [10]

A 1992 article in the Tongan Chronicle described his work with the Diversified Fruit Tree project which evaluated and introduced tropical fruit production and crop diversification. [10] The program propagated and distributed grafted fruit trees annually and introduced more than 25 fruit species or varieties of tree crops including new cultivars of avocado, guava, jackfruit, longan, lychee, macadamia, mango, papaya, sapodilla, and white sapote. [10]

That same year, the Lancaster Sunday News featured an article about Thomas's Peace Corps unique experience.[3] In 2009, was also interviewed for the Bring the World Home series produced by the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hawai`i. [11] Thomas served as executive producer and writer for the 30-minute documentary Sending Aloha Abroad: Hawai'i's Peace Corps Experience which examined the history of more than 7,500 Peace Corps trainees who lived and trained in Hawaii between 1962 and 1972 before serving overseas. [11] The film screened at the Hawai'i International Film Festival in 2013. [12]

While serving in Tonga, Thomas joined several biological field expeditions. [13] In 1990, he joined an East-West Center biological survey on 'Eua led by Arthur Whistler, Donald R. Drake, and Timothy J. Motley. [13] He also served as a crewmember aboard the Danish built Breum during the Brehm Fund South Seas Expedition led by Dieter R. Rinke, ornithologist of the German-based Brehm Fund for International Bird Conservation. [14] The expedition included conservation research focused on protected the endangered Tongan Megapode (Malau) including the translocation of eggs and chicks to the volcanic island of Fonualei to establish an additional population. [15]

After returning from Tonga, Thomas served as the Peace Corps campus recruiter at the University of Florida. [16]

Career

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Thomas's teaching and research interests have focused on biocultural diversity, including field research, collections-based scholarship, and capacity building.[6] [17] [18] [19] [20] His work has examined interdisciplinary relationships between people, plants and conservation. [17] [18] In Rwanda, Thomas was part of a team involved in the rediscovery and conservation of Nymphaea thermarum, a species previously accessed by the IUCN as "Extinct in the wild". [21] [22]

Thomas joined the University of Hawaii in 2001 and later served as Collections Manager of the university herbarium, in which he led the 2009 naming of the herbarium in honor of botanist and explorer Joseph F. Rock. [23] He also contributed to public biodiversity-based exhibitions including The Curator's Choice: Selections from the UH Museum Consortium [24] and as well as being integral to the development of the UH Museum Consortium. [25] [26] As collections manager, Thomas participated in digitization initiatives that contributed to the UH Museum Consortium's development of online access to university collections. [27] Formed in 2008, the UHMC was created to promote the significance of the collections, advocate for their needs, and consolidate resources as well as the development of audio tours in local botanical gardens. [28]

As a botanist, Thomas's research has included plant diversity, taxonomy, ethnobotany, indigenous and local knowledge, and the relationships between biological and cultural diversity. [29] His work has also involved the development, management, and digitization of natural-history specimen collections, including collaborations with herbaria in Hawai`i, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Samoa, and Niue as well as collaborations with national herbaria of Bhutan and Rwanda. [1] [30]

He has also served as a visiting expert through UNESCO's The World Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the University of Rwanda and has undertaken two US Fulbright Specialist assignments focusing on biodiversity informatics and the development of data biodiversity portals in Bhutan and Rwanda. [17] [31]

Thomas has also participated in plant conservation projects in Western Polynesia working with Art Whistler, he contributed to projects documenting rare plants of Samoa, Tonga and Niue through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF). [32] [33] [34]

Selected Publications

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  • Thomas M.B., E. Bizuru, C. Nsengumuremyi, G. Munyaneza. (2026) Diospyros abyssinica (Hiern) F.White (Ebenaceae), a new distributional record for Rwanda. Biodiversity Data Journal 14: e189867. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.14.e189867
  • Pankararu, C.J., Teixidor-Toneu, I., Odonne, G. et al. A global biodiversity use data infrastructure acknowledging indigenous and local knowledge. npj biodivers 5, 7 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-026-00121-0
  • McClatchey, W. and M.B. Thomas. 2008. Why Launch a New Journal? Ethnobotany Research and Applications, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.

References

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  1. 1 2 "Mānoa: Collaborative botanical research consortium receives $1.4 million grant | University of Hawaii News". manoa.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  2. ↑ "ORCID". orcid.org. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Coffey, Carolyn E. (August 16, 1992). "His labor is one of love among Tonga's 'plain people'". Sunday News. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. p. B-6.
  4. ↑ Writer, Jon Rutter Staff (2004-12-04). "Amish culture remains deeply rooted in the land". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Peace Corps Online: Michael B. Thomas - Peace Corps Volunteer, Tonga, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 12/1989 - 4/1993". peacecorpsonline.org. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
  6. 1 2 3 Thomas, Michael (2001). "An analysis of the Pataxó pharmacopoeia of Bahia, Brazil, using an object oriented database model". ufl-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  7. ↑ "Ethnopharmacology - Ed. Elaine Elisabetsky, Nina L. Etkin (eBook)". www.eolss.net. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  8. ↑ Thomas, Michael B.; Ferguson, James; Crane, Jonathan H. (1995-12-01). "Identification of N, K, MG, MN, ZN and FE Deficiency Symptoms of Carambola, Lychee, and Papaya Grown in Sand Culture". Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 108: 370–373. ISSN 0886-7283.
  9. ↑ "From Myanmar to California: Learning to Grow Green Gold". Winrock International. 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  10. 1 2 3 Kami, Taina S. (June 3, 1992). "Exotic fruits may hold key to agricultural future". Tonga Chronicle.
  11. 1 2 RPCVHI (2009-04-24). Bring the World Home - Episode 19 (Tonga). Retrieved 2026-09-25 – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ "PIC Pacific Showcase at 2013 Hawaii International Film Festival". Pacific Islanders in Communications. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  13. 1 2 Drake, Donald R.; Motley, Timothy J.; Whistler, W. Arthur; Imada, Clyde T. (1996). "Rain forest vegetation of 'Eua Island, Kingdom of Tonga". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 34 (1): 65–77. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1996.10412694. ISSN 0028-825X.
  14. ↑ France-Presse, Agene (2003-06-24). "Pacific's last megapodes saved from extinction". ABC Science. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  15. ↑ Rinke, Dieter (April 1, 1993). "Refugees on remote volcanoes". Pacific islands monthly.
  16. ↑ Hunte, Tracie (January 25, 2000). "Peace Corps recruiting volunteers on campus today - UF Digital Collections". ufdc.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  17. 1 2 3 Thomas, Michael B.; Bizuru, Elias; Nsengumuremyi, Concorde; Munyaneza, Gaspard (2026-06-10). "Diospyros abyssinica (Hiern) F.White (Ebenaceae), a new distributional record for Rwanda". Biodiversity Data Journal. 14. Pensoft Publishers. doi:10.3897/BDJ.14.e189867. ISSN 1314-2828.
  18. 1 2 Fadiman, Maria G.; Thomas, Michael B.; Morei, Olympia E.; Kitalong, Ann H.; Hanser, Sholeh (2018-10-04). "Globalization and Tradition in Palau: Case Study of the Syncretic Omengat (First Child Birth) and Ngasech Ceremonies". The Florida Geographer. 50. ISSN 0739-0041.
  19. ↑ "Mānoa: Herbarium links up with largest ex-situ plant conservation program in world | University of Hawaii News". www.manoa.hawaii.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-11-02. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  20. ↑ Tucker, Keahi (2011-06-27). Hawaii's Exceptional Trees (KGMB9) (Television production). Retrieved 2026-09-25 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ↑ IWGS (2024-04-09). "Plant News: Celebrating an "Extinct in the Wild" Waterlily Rescue in Rwanda". International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  22. ↑ Nkurunziza, Michel (2024-07-03). "Scientists seek to save endangered plant species in Rwandan hot spring". The New Times. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  23. ↑ "Mānoa: Botanist, famed explorer honored | University of Hawaii News". manoa.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  24. ↑ "Mānoa: The Curator's Choice: Selections from the UH Museum Consortium | University of Hawaii News". www.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  25. ↑ Chun, Gary (May 20, 2012). "Digital History". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. pp. G1.
  26. ↑ "University of Hawai'i at Mānoa | American Studies | UH MUSEUM CONSORTIUM (UHMC)". Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  27. ↑ "Mānoa: Unique seashell reference collection digitized by UH Museum Consortium | University of Hawaii News". manoa.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  28. ↑ Kosasa, Karen; Thomas, Michael (2008-01-06). The Museum Consortium, University of Hawaii at Manoa. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.28180.91520.
  29. ↑ Pankararu, Cristiane Julião; Teixidor-Toneu, Irene; Odonne, Guillaume; Asante, Frederick; Bandeira, Salomão O.; Barrera-Bello, Ángela Marcela; Benitez-Capistros, Francisco Javier; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid; Dalcin, Eduardo; Dennehy-Carr, Zoë Honoria; Diallo, Khady; Drouet-Cruz, Huran Tonalli; Fonseca-Kruel, Viviane Stern; Gallois, Sandrine; Gnansounou, Setondé Constant (2026-02-25). "A global biodiversity use data infrastructure acknowledging indigenous and local knowledge". npj Biodiversity. 5 (1). Nature Publishing Group: 7. doi:10.1038/s44185-026-00121-0. ISSN 2731-4243. PMC 12936073. PMID 41741663.
  30. ↑ Aotearoa, RNZ | Te Reo Irirangi o (2011-02-02). "Hawaii University gets funding for online access to Pacific plant specimens". RNZ. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  31. ↑ "Fulbright Specialist Directory". Fulbright Specialist Program. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  32. ↑ Whistler, Arthur. "Rare Plants of Tonga". www.cepf.net. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  33. ↑ Thomas, Michael; Whistler, Art (2014-09-15). RARE PLANTS OF WESTERN POLYNESIA. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.10067.12324.
  34. ↑ Whistler, Arthur. "Rare Plants of Samoa". www.cepf.net. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
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Category:American botanists Category:American ethnobotanists Category:University of Florida alumni Category:American conservationists Category:Living people

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