Alan Weakley, Ph.D., Chief Botanist

Alan Weakley, is widely regarded as one of the leading botanists and plant community ecologists in the eastern U.S. with extensive on-the-ground experience in all Southeastern states. He holds a B.S. degree in botany from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in botany from Duke University. He currently serves as Director of the Herbarium at the North Carolina Botanical Garden and adjunct professor at UNC. In his 40-year career, he has served as Senior Regional Ecologist for The Nature Conservancy and Chief Ecologist for NatureServe. He served as Trustee of the N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund from 2008-2013 and Chair of the N.C. Plant Conservation Program’s Scientific Advisory Committee. He is the author of Flora of the Southern & Mid-Atlantic States, a botanical manual covering about 7000 plant species, now the standard in use across much of the southeastern U.S., and has been a leader in the development of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification System.