In memoriam: Ethnobotanist and conservationist Art Whistler

Art Whistler, world-renowned botanist and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumnus and lecturer died April 2, 2020 after contracting COVID-19 at the age of 75. He is survived by a sister in Seattle and his adult children, Sean in Vancouver, and Kira Matangi in New Zealand.

Whistler specialized in the tropical plants of Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Calif., he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa. He then moved to Hawaiʻi and earned his PhD in botany from UH Mānoa in 1979.

Whistler’s robust professional career spanned Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. At UH, he was a lecturer and adjunct faculty member in botany as well as an adjunct associate professor at Lyon Arboretum.

We at Lyon are saddened by Dr. Whistler’s passing. To learn more about him, visit UH News: In memoriam: Ethnobotanist and conservationist Art Whistler.