Helen Kennedy (born 1944) is an American botanist, botanical collector, and expert of the Marantaceae family. [1] [2] Taxa named after Kennedy include Philodendron heleniae and Guzmania kennedyae. In 2011, Kennedy received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Society of Woman Geographers
Kennedy was born in Riverside, California. [2] She has a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in botany from the University of California, Davis. She also has a doctoral degree from University of California. [2]
Kennedy has worked at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and has served as curator of the Summit Canal Zone Herbarium in Panama. [3] She has also worked as Curator of the Summit Herbarium at the Missouri Botanical Garden. [4] Kennedy has also worked for the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg and the Chicago Field Museum. [5] [6] As of 2007 she was an active collector for the University of British Columbia (UBC) herbarium, contributing 1,000 specimens since 1969. [7] She has also been Honorary Curator of Vascular Plants at the UBC herbarium. [8] As of 2016 she was herbarium research associate at the University of California at Riverside. [3]
In 2011, Kennedy received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Society of Woman Geographers. [6] [9] Taxa named after Kennedy include Philodendron heleniae Croat and Guzmania kennedyae L.B. Sm. & Read. [2] [4]