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Public
Employee Press Profiles in
Public Service Voyage of discovery: Natural
History Museum treasure retires after 47 years
By
JANE LaTOUR
Even after 47 years on the job as a botanist, ecologist
and educator, William Schiller is young of soul, spirit and smile.
Schiller
discovered his passion for nature as a child and nurtured it with frequent trips
to local parks and the American Museum of Natural History. First with a father
who encouraged his love of science and then on his own, he explored the natural
world. Pelham Bay, Harriman State Park and Bear Mountain saw his first forays
into the wild. The son of German Jewish immigrants, the South Bronx native
followed his older brother to Stuyvesant High School.
The students
made it outstanding, recalled Schiller. There was no question at all
that we were there to learn, and we were fascinated by the subjects, Schiller
said. At City College he majored in biology and focused on botany.
After
graduation, he applied at the museum and won a position on the staff of the new
education department along with a geologist, an anthropologist, and a zoologist. He
immersed himself in the job and found it all-encompassing. Schiller built an encyclopedic
knowledge of plants, collected copious slides and developed a herbarium
an organized collection of dried plants for use in his work.
Lifetime contribution His
first field trip took place in the early 1960s when he headed to the new state
of Alaska on a trip that presented formidable obstacles and yielded great rewards.
It lasted three months and provided all of the necessary scientific and logistical
preparations for the museums guided tours to the state. Field trips to distant
and local destinations became one of Schillers hallmarks, as he guided teachers,
museum staff and neophytes into the wonderful world of science.
Co-workers
lauded Schillers legendary expertise Dec. 9 at his retirement party. Standing
before a screen featuring slides from his field trips, each speaker told stories
that evoked his special qualities and what his service has meant to them and to
the special mission of themuseum. Clearly, the gentle, exceedingly humble man
has inspired his younger colleagues, who share his passion for science and work
to make its mysteries accessible to the public.
Schiller was part of the
organizing and negotiating that founded American Museum of Natural History Local
1559. The union had a great impact on the salaries, he said. His own
decision to leave the payroll was based on looming layoffs. Schillers retirement
allows a young colleague to stay on the job.
He volunteers his time now
and is preparing his own childhood collection of specimens for the museums
Discovery Room, where a new generation of children will be introduced to the wonders
of science.
Reflecting on his journey, he said, In my own heart,
Im satisfied. From the microbe to the flowering plant, its all connected.
In my mind, when Im out of doors, theres a feeling of celebration.
Were seeing this grand picture and understanding how nature works in fine
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