After completing my Ph.D. program in August 2000, I relocated to the The New York Botanical Garden to work as a Postdoctoral Fellow under the guidance of Dr. Scott A. Mori. I am interested in the diversity, ecology, evolution, biogeography, and conservation of tropical forests. Driven by this interest, my research is dedicated to two levels of botanical diversity.
     With support from the Amazon Conservation Association, and in collaboration with US and Peruvian collaborators, I have initiated the project Botany of the Los Amigos Conservation Area in southeastern Peru. The aim is to provide a modern botanical synthesis for the Los Amigos Conservation Area, including print and digital field guides to all plants of the 140,000 hectare area. We have initiated collaborative studies of plant/animal interactions, plant phenology, the diversity of specific habitats, and non-timber forest products. This includes mammal studies by Louise Emmons, aquatic ecology and fisheries research by Michael Goulding, and more theoretical long-term studies focused on forest dynamics, diversity, and conservation. Local communities are directly involved in basic and applied projects at Los Amigos, offering employment, education, work training, and a new appreciation for intact tropical forest and its long-term conservation.
      The topic of my Ph.D. dissertation was the taxonomy, evolution, and biogeography of the Myristicaceae, otherwise known as the nutmeg family of flowering plants. I applied herbarium, field, and laboratory techniques to answer questions focused on Compsoneura, a Neotropical genus distributed from southern Mexico, through Central America, into northern South America. More specifically, these studies included a complete morphological survey, analysis of genetic diversity patterns, description of more than 10 new species, an evolutionary synthesis, a biogeographic analysis, and a taxonomic revision of the genus. I will publish my dissertation as a monograph through the Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden, along with a series of associated manuscripts that have been submitted or are in-preparation. My investigations of the Myristicaceae continue here at The NYBG with a primary focus on the taxonomy, evolution, and biogeography of the Neotropical genera Iryanthera, Otoba, and Virola, with the ultimate goal of producing a Flora Neotropica Monograph for the family. I have also initiated a comparative analysis of floral morphology across the 19 genera of Myristicaceae, which will contribute to our understanding of the taxonomy and evolution of this important family. In the field I am focusing efforts on the natural history of the Myristicaceae, including phenology, pollination, and dispersal biology studies.
      To expedite my work, I employ a range of digital technologies, including databasing, a Geographic Information System (GIS), imaging, page layout, and database-driven HTML work aimed at Internet and CD-ROM distribution. These tools are enhancing the organization, analysis, visualization, and presentation of botanical information from the Los Amigos and Myristicaceae projects. Results of previous and on-going studies can be viewed at my project websites (see below) that are being constructed and will be updated on a regular basis as new information is generated.

• Postdoctoral Fellow & Research Associate, Institute of Systematic Botany (2000-Present)
• Born 1970
• Ph.D. Texas A&M University (2000)
• Field Botanist, Keechi Creek Wildlife Refuge, Texas (2000)
• Instructor of Biology, Botany, Plant Taxonomy, Comparative Plant Morphology, and Plant Anatomy, Department of Biology, Texas A&M University (1995-2000)
• Research Student, Department of Biology Herbarium, Texas A&M University (1995-2000)
• Research Fellow, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (1995)
• Research Assistant, Kansas State Herbarium, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (1993-1995)
• Memberships in American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Botanical Society of America, Sigma Xi, and Torrey Botanical Society

E-mail address:  jjanovec@nybg.org

Web Pages

• The Neotropical Botany Pages
• Botany of the Los Amigos Conservation Area, Madre de Dios, Peru
• The Myristicaceae Pages
• Personal Web Page

Selected Publications

• Barkley, T.M. & J. P. Janovec. 1996. Robinsonecio (Asteraceae: Senecioneae): A new genus from Mexico and Guatemala. Sida 17(1): 77-81.
• Janovec, J. P. & T.M. Barkley. 1996. Sinosenecio newcombei (Asteraceae: Senecioneae): A new combination for a North American plant in an Asiatic genus. Novon 6: 265-267.
• Janovec, J. P. & H. Robinson. 1997. Charadranaetes, a new genus of the Senecioneae (Asteraceae) from Costa Rica. Novon 7: 162-168.
• Janovec, J.P. & A.K. Neill. 2000. Exploring the palms and cycads of Belize. The Montgomery News 8(1): 8.
• Neill, A.K. & J.P. Janovec. 2001. Occidente y Oriente: collecting palms and cycads in Ecuador. The Montgomery News 9(2): 5.
• Freeman, C. E., J. S. Harrison, J. P. Janovec, and R. Scogin. The utility of noncoding chloroplast DNA sequences in reconstructing phylogeny in Keckiella(Scrophulariaceae). Systematic Botany (In press).
• Janovec, J. P. & A. K. Neill. (2002). Studies of the Myristicaceae: An overview of the Compsoneura atopa (A. DC.) Warb. complex  (Myristicaceae), with description of new species. Brittonia (In press).
• Janovec, J. P., L. G. Clark, & S. A. Mori. (2002). Is the Neotropical flora ready for the PhyloCode? Botanical Review (In press).
• Janovec, J. P. & J. S. Harrison. (2002). Morphological analysis of the Compsoneura sprucei complex (Myristicaceae), with a new combination for the Central American species Compsoneura mexicana. Systematic Botany 24 (7): in press.
• Janovec, J. P. (2002). Compsoneura diazii (Myristicaceae), a new species from the Rio Cenepa area of northwestern Peru. Novon (In press).

Updated: March 2002