Draft:Robert "Ben" Channell

Dr. Robert “Ben” Channell (July 4, 1924 – August 10, 2001) was an American botanist known for his taxonomic revision of the ‘Eu-Rhynchospora’ portion of the genus Rhynchospora and pioneering research on the genus Trillium. He also conducted extensive studies on the toxic compound perilla ketone from the plant Perilla frutescens, the genus Hydrophyllum L. (Hydrophyllaceae), and the Buxaceae family.

Early Life and Education
Dr. Robert "Ben" Channell was born in Gallman, Mississippi, on July 4, 1924. He received his B.S. degree in botany in 1947 and his M.S. degree in 1949 from Mississippi State College (now Mississippi State University). During his time there, he was an instructor in botany from 1949 to 1951. Channell then became a graduate assistant in the Department of Botany at Duke University, where he ultimately received his Ph.D. in 1955.

Career
After completing his Ph.D., Channell joined the staff of the Gray Herbarium–Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University as a botanist, where he worked from 1955 to 1957. In 1957, he joined Vanderbilt University as an Assistant Professor of Biology. By 1963, he became the chairman of the newly established Department of General Biology  and co-directed the Summer Institute of Evolution of Vascular Plants  with Dr. Elsie Quarterman  , Vanderbilt’s first female academic department chair. Channell and Quarterman were new committee members of the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in 1963.

Channell was also a member of a drive within the Tennessee Academy of Science aimed to faciliate collaboration between "workers of science" and those involved in "scholarly research." He was among 16 botanists who led the 11th annual Great Smoky Mountains Wildflower Pilgrimage from April 27-29, 1961 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Channell served as a curator of the Vanderbilt Herbarium in the 1960s. In 1964, Channell was appointed to serve on the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science within the American Society of Plant Taxonomists.

Trillium Research
One of Channell’s most significant grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) was for the project titled “Cytotaxonomic and Biochemical Studies of the Origin, Distribution and Relationships of Species of Trillium (Liliaceae).” This research aimed to understand the natural taxonomic units comprising the genus Trillium through chromosomal studies.

Collaborations
Channell’s research involved collaborations with Japanese botanists, including comparative studies of the evolutionary and migrational history of Trillium with researchers at Kyushu University. He published several papers with his Japanese colleagues, including Dr. Ichiro Fukuda.

Legacy and Death
In 1996, a new tetraploid species, Trillium channellii, was named in his honor. As Novon––a journal for botanical nomenclature––highlighted, Channell’s “interest in Trillium and support of research on taxonomy, cytogenetics, chemistry, and ecology of this genus during the early 1960s account (directly or indirectly) for much new information published about these plants since that time by us as well as many others. He challenged and encouraged those with whom he worked, often without receiving due credit for original ideas.” He left behind a legacy scholarship for students studying the sciences at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Dr. Robert “Ben” Channell passed away on August 10, 2001. His legacy continues through the students he mentored, including James T. Murrell, Robert L. Beckmann, Jr, and Jim Folsom.