Brent Mishler

Following his retirement in 2024 he is now Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Curator of Bryophytes, and continues an active research program.

Mishler attended Bonita High School in La Verne, California, and worked as a Ranger-Naturalist for the Los Angeles County Nature Center Unit (Parks and Recreation Department).

[M 1] Most recently, Mishler has helped to develop spatial phylogenetic tools for studying biodiversity and endemism, using large-scale phylogenies and collection data in a geographic and statistical framework.

Mishler argues that the species rank can and should be done away with, to be replaced by a multi-level approach to systematics, ecology, evolution, and conservation.

Nathan calls the "common" labelling of heterogeneity as pluralism by biologists such as Mishler "dangerous" as it overlooks the distinction of the two kinds.