Dr. James C. Lendemer

Curator of Botany
518-473-6511

Ph.D., Biology: Plant Science, 2012, CUNY Graduate Center New York, NY 
M.Phil., Biology, 2010, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY 
B.A., Biology, 2006, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 

My research focuses on the botanical diversity of land-based ecosystems in eastern North America. This emphasizes understanding not only biological diversity, but the relationships among botanical organisms and their environments through extensive study in nature and in museum collections. In particular, I use lichens, which are sensitive to disturbance and pollution, as a way to demonstrate how ecosystems change over time and how these changes may result in increased need for conservation. As the Curator of Botany, I oversee the collection of algae, bryophytes, lichens and plants. The NYSM collection is an essential resource that documents botanical diversity in New York and beyond. The growth, maintenance, and digitization of this collection is a core part of my research that supports a much broader community of naturalists and educators.

Publications

2021

P. Drooker 2021, Sources and Significance of Pipestone Artifacts from Fort Ancient Sites, Midcontinenetal Journal of Archaeology 46, 17–52..

2017

P. Drooker 2017, Fabric Fragments from Pine Island, Alabama: Indicator of an Evolving Male Costume Item, Southeastern Archaeology 36, 75-84. 10.1080/0734578X.2016.1247633
Drooker, P., 2017. The Fabric of Power: Textiles in Mississippian Politics and Ritual, in: Waselkov, G., Smith, M. (Eds.), Forging Southeastern Identities: Social Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and Folklore of the Mississippian to Early Historic South. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, pp. 16-40.

2012

P. Drooker 2012, European Trade Goods at the Ripley Site: Implications for Interaction Networks and Chronology, Northeast Anthropology 77-78, 89-138.

2011

P. Drooker, V. Steponaitis, S. Swanson, G. Wheeler 2011, The Provenance and Use of Etowah Palettes, American Antiquity 76, 81-106. 10.7183/0002-7316.76.1.81
P. Drooker 2011, Using Replication-Related Techniques to Examine the Significance of Fabrics in Mississippian Society, Ethnoarchaeology 3, 163-186. 10.1179/eth.2011.3.2.163

2010

P. Drooker, J. Hart 2010, Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher, New York State Museum Bulletin The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York
Bradley, J., Younge, M.H., Kozlowski, A., 2010. The Sundler Sites: Reconstructing the Late Pleistocene Landscape and its People in the Capital Region of New York, in: Drooker, P., Hart, J. (Eds.), Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher. The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York, pp. 213-224.
Orser, C., 2010. Foreword, in: Drooker, P., Hart, J. (Eds.), Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher. The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York, pp. xiii-xiv.
Pickands, M., 2010. A Local Industry Reflects a Local Community—The Watts Blacksmith Shop, in: Drooker, P., Hart, J. (Eds.), Soldiers, Cities, and Landscapes: Papers in Honor of Charles L. Fisher. The University of the State of New York, Albany, New York, pp. 281-293.