John Cameron Semple was born in 1947[4] in Boston, the second child of three to Bob Semple, an accountant, and Margaret Semple, a school teacher. As a child, John had an interest in art and took classes in the subject at a local museum. In high school, he became interested in biology, and this led him to enroll in Tufts University in 1965 to begin the study of medicine. At the encouragement of a botany professor he met at Tufts, he included courses in botany and taxonomy in his studies and decided to attend graduate school to become a botanist.[5]
After earning a Bachelor of Science in 1969 from Tufts,[6] Semple enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis, spending most of his time at the Missouri Botanical Garden.[5] In 1971 and 1972, he earned Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in biology with a focus on botany.[6] His 1972 PhD dissertation was entitled The Cytology, Flavonoid Chemistry and Systematics of the Texas Sleepy Daisy Xanthisma texanum DC. (Asteraceae).[1] Semple acquired a background in cytotaxonomy and evolutionary classification while performing this research, as well as an affinity toward the study of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.[5]
Career
For post-doctoral studies, Semple remained at Washington University in St. Louis, also serving as a lecturer and visiting assistant professor, into the summer of 1974. Beginning that fall, he became a lecturer at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where he spent his career and retired in 2012.[5] One of Semple's early notable doctoral students was Canadian botanist Luc Brouillet.[7][8]
The majority of Semple's post-retirement work has been focused on the goldenrod genus Solidago.[9] In February 2021, he and botanist James B. Beck published a revision of the genus based on a large phylogenomic study. This revision can be viewed on Semple's website[10] as well as in the original paper.[11]
Semple and his wife Brenda have three sons and several grandchildren.[5]
Selected publications
The standard author abbreviationSemple is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[13] Semple has published over 220 works including several new species.[12] A sampling of his work is listed here in chronological order.
Semple, J.C.; Ringius, G.S.; Zhang, J. (1999). "The Goldenrods of Ontario: Solidago L. and Euthamia Nutt. 3rd Edition". University of Waterloo Biology Series. 39. Ontario: Department of Biology, University of Waterloo: 1–90.
Semple, J.C.; Heard, S.B.; Brouillet, L. (2002). "Cultivated and Native Asters of Ontario (Compositae: Astereae): Aster L. (Including Asteromoea Blume, Diplactis Raf. and Kalimeris (Cass.) Cass.), Callistephus Cass., Galatella Cass., Doellingeria Nees, Oclemena E.L.Greene, Eurybia (Cass.) S.F.Gray, Canadanthus Nesom, and Symphyotrichum Nees (Including Virgulus Raf.)". University of Waterloo Biology Series. 41. Ontario: 1–134.
