John William Harshberger

In addition to his duties at the University, Harshberger taught nature studies at Pocono Pines Assembly, a summer school program patterned after the Chautauqua adult education movement.

He was also the head professor of ecology at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Cold Springs Harbor from 1913 to 1922.

He performed outstanding research work in mycology and plant pathology and was one of the first to recognize the threat posed by the chestnut-blight fungus.

[1][3] He also did work in the areas of economic botany, plant geography, conservation, ecology, and floristics.

It was considered an impressive accomplishment for one botanist to synthesize all the floristic and vegetative literature for North America.

He also wrote the popular and influential, Vegetation of the New Jersey Pine-Barrens, which described the unique area in a manner accessible to the public and brought attention to its importance in conservation.