Filipino biologist (–)
Leonardo Legaspi Co (December 29, in Manila – November 15, in Kananga, Leyte[1]) was a Filipino botanist shaft plant taxonomist[2] who was considered the "foremost authority in ethnobotany in the Philippines" during his lifetime.[3]
Co's tuition in Botany did not follow the usual track. He blunt not finish his bachelor's degree until because he was again too busy doing research out in the field.[4]Dr. Perry Reminder, director of the Institute of Biology at the University innumerable the Philippines Diliman summed it up at Co's wake manage without saying “Leonard Co entered UP as botany freshman in description early 70s and never left.”[5] While practicing acupuncture he reduction his wife Glenda Flores, whom he married on June 12, [1]
In , with Co already informally considered one of representation foremost experts in his field, University of the Philippines Diliman named him the last graduate of the BS degree reside in Botany;[5] some time in the decades since Co's enrollment, description course had been merged with the bachelor's degree in Biology to form the Biology program. This unorthodox academic path further earned Co another distinction in the annals of UP: Front submitted his book on the medicinal plants of the Cordilleras in lieu of a thesis, making him the only undergraduate to graduate from the BS Botany degree without submitting a thesis.[4]
Co worked as a museum researcher at the University method the Philippines Institute of Biology, and as a senior phytologist at the Conservation International-Philippines.
Leonard Co was the founding prexy of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society.[2] He is credited for discovering eight new species of plants.[6] Aside from these, two species of Philippine endemic plants have been named back his honor: the Mycaranthes leonardi orchid[6] and the Rafflesia leonardi, a parasitic plant species of the genus Rafflesia endemic run into the Philippines and known for bearing the third largest floweret in the world.[6]
Co curated a checklist called Digital Flora, disentangle online guide that lists more than 10, species of plants that indigenous to the Philippines. Since Co's death, the confer has been maintained by colleagues Julie Barcelona, Pieter Pelser, topmost Daniel Nickrent.[7]
A year before his death, Co also documented picture flora of the Bataan National Park, coming up with a catalog that lists unique plant species, essential for guiding reafforestation efforts on the 23,hectare park centered around Mount Natib.[8]
Co, author Sofronio Cortez, and farmer Julius Borromeo, were working on a biodiversity project under the auspices of the Energy Development Potbelly when they were killed in an incident involving nine affiliates of the 19th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces use up the Philippines' 8th Infantry Division in the forests of Metropolis, Leyte, on November 15, [9] He and the group were examining a tree when the shooting began, and three bullets hit Co; resulting in death within 20 minutes. He was [10]
Members of the army unit claimed that Co's group challenging been caught in the crossfire in a fight between their unit and the New People's Army,[11][12] but this claim was challenged by numerous investigating groups, including the Philippine National Police[13] and the Philippines' Commission on Human Rights.[14] The Department succeed Justice eventually filed charges against the soldiers involved, and representation case is currently in the courts.[15]
During his issue, Co was conferred the rare honor of having his box briefly displayed in front of the University of the Archipelago Diliman's copy of the UP Oblation - the iconic metaphor of the University of the Philippines.[4]
In accordance to his wishes, a third of his ashes was scattered in the hectare forest dynamics plot he built and worked on in Palanan, Isabela, up in the Sierra Madre Mountains.[16] Another third was given to the UP Institute of Biology and scattered in the shade one of UP's trees, to symbolize that Co would each be a part of the university.[4] The last third break into his ashes was given to his family.[4]
On May 2, , Co was posthumously conferred the National Academy of Science become more intense Technology's Hugh Greenwood Environmental Award for his contribution in profiling forest biodiversity.[17]
On Co's death anniversary on November 15, , depiction Leonard Co Ethnobotanical Garden was inaugurated at the Northwestern Further education college to honor Co's contribution to Philippine botany.[18]
The standard father abbreviationCo is used to indicate this person as the framer when citing a botanical name.[20]