A biology professor known for his extensive knowledge of plants will retire from the classroom after 33 years at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Robert Freckmann is reluctantly leaving teaching to spend more time as the volunteer curator of vascular plants in UWSP herbarium, the second largest collection of plant specimens in the state.

"It takes a lifetime to do anything well," he said. "And it would be a shame to walk away from that."

Freckmann began organizing the collection soon after coming to UWSP in 1968. Since then it has grown from a 1,000 to a 210,000-specimen collection with 140,000 vascular plants he mounted and labeled. He also collected and contributed one�fourth of those plants.

A specialist in plant taxonomy (classification), he�s taught the taxonomy course to 4,000 students, a record he believes is more than anyone else in the country. For a number of years, many of his students served internships with the Smithsonian Institution, as Freckmann had forged a cooperative agreement with one of his former students who worked there.

"I�m very pleased with the many enthusiastic students I�ve had," he said. Many of them have worked beside him in the herbarium, contributing to the collection, doing research projects and working on a database of plants with other UW institutions.

When Freckmann won the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000, a student supported his nomination saying, "He is a great mentor and a good friend . . . His enthusiasm and love for teaching plant taxonomy has tremendously inspired me and other students."

About a year ago, Freckmann was able to use his plant knowledge to help a murder investigation. Police contacted him regarding an investigation of a body found along the Wisconsin River, asking if he could identify the species of a fingernail size plant specimen found on the body to see if it was native to the area or from another location. He was able to identify it as a native grass, helping the investigators place the crime�s origin at the river.

Freckmann discovered what he wanted to do with the rest of his life while taking a plant taxonomy course his sophomore year at UW-Milwaukee. He had just changed his major from chemistry to forestry, but found himself so interested in plants that he asked his professor how he could follow in his footsteps. He went on to earn his doctorate in plant taxonomy at Iowa State University.

He began his career as assistant curator of botany at the Milwaukee Public Museum before taking a teaching position at UWSP in the fall of 1968. By Christmas break, he had taken it upon himself to organize an old collection of 4,000 plants that needed labeling and processing before they could be added to the small UWSP herbarium.

"It took all kinds of time," he said. "One year in particular I was there every single day except Christmas, New Years and one day I had a cold. I was there evenings and weekends. My wife had to remind me that there were other things in life."

His wife, Sally, who holds a master�s degree in biology, has been supportive of his commitment to the herbarium. Mosses are her specialty and she maintains her own moss herbarium in the basement of their home.

Freckmann is an authority on panicoid grasses and has collaborated with a student to write three books on beverages made from wild plants. He plans on publishing more in retirement. He also is active with the city of Stevens Point Parks Commission and the board of the Aldo Leopold Chapter of the Audubon Society. He is a member of the properties committee of the North Central Conservancy Trust, which lobbies for donations of land for conservation.

In addition to continuing his herbarium work, Freckmann plans on joining his wife in gardening and maintaining the 2,000 species of plants on their 35 acres. Each has their own sections and plants of interest.

"I also like birding and hiking," he said, "although it�s hard to do it without a camera and a plant press. I can�t just walk past something. I can�t get it out of my system.

"I will be in the herbarium until senility hits," he said with a smile. "But the memory for plants outlasts all other things in the minds of plant taxonomists."

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