Biography: Ed Klekowski

Ph.D. 1968 University of California, Berkeley in botany and genetics
Professor of Biology at UMASS, joined the faculty in 1968, at age 27
Visiting professorships or research appointments at various institutions during sabbaticals or leaves from UMASS:
•Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England
•University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
•Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
•Cambridge University, Cambridge, England
•Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Prof. Klekowski currently teaches: Introductory Genetics, Plant Morphology and a new online course about the Connecticut River (Under the Connecticut, available through UMASS Continuing Education)

"My research has been in the Caribbean area where I studied the biology of mangroves; I started to dive there. I began diving in the Connecticut as a lark, but soon I became so fascinated by what my students and I were seeing that the Connecticut became my major focus. People often ask my why a professor of biology is making documentaries. Well, I've always considered myself a teacher, so making documentaries allows me to be able to teach to a larger class (audience). Many of the techniques I've learned in giving hundreds of university lectures, I find are equally useful in developing a narration."