Dr.Joseph Edward Laferriere was born inProvidence,Rhode Island,USA, in 1955. He was raised in nearbySmithfield and graduated fromSmithfield High School in 1973. He later attended theUniversity of Rhode Island, obtaining a Bachelor Degree in Botany in 1980, followed by a Master's in Botany from theUniversity of California @Davis in 1982 and a PhD inEcology &Evolutionary Biology from theUniversity of Arizona in 1991. After finishing his PhD, he held professional positions atHarvard University,Washington State University,Biosphere 2, and the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos (inCuernavaca,Morelos,Mexico).
Dr. Laferriere'sdoctoral dissertation was anethnobotanical study of plant use by theMountain Pima people. They are a group of indigenous people living in theSierra Madre Occidental mountains along the border betweenSonora andChihuahua, Mexico. He spent 14 months in the communities of Nabogame andYepachic, both inChihuahua State. His work resulted in publication of dozens of articles in scientific journals, focusing onbotany,anthropology,nutrition, andoptimization theory. His publications include descriptions of several new plant and fungal species:Hymenocallis pimana,Berberis pimana,Prionosciadium saraviki, Albatrellus mexicanus,Laennecia pimana,Pectis pimana,Yucca declinata,Hymenocallis clivorum, etc.
--Joseph Laferriere (talk) 11:25, 2 February 2014 (UTC)