Engkik Soepadmo (3 March 1937 – 6 March 2021) was an Indonesian botanist and ecologist who worked in Malaysia. His research focused on the tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia. He authored numerous publications on the flora of Malesia, and contributed to forest conservation and the establishment of protected areas in Malaysia.The Late Dr Engkik Soepadmo
The Merdeka Award. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

Early life and education

Soepadmo was born and raised in Kartosuro, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. His early education was at the Secondary School in Solo. He graduated from high school in 1955, and attended the College of Biology in Bogor, graduating in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in Taxonomic Botany. He served for a time as a junior botanist at the

Herbarium Bogoriense A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

before attending the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a PhD in July 1966. For the following two years he had a research fellowship from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

Academic and research career

Dr Soepadmo was appointed as a lecturer in Tropical Botany at the University of Malaya in 1968. He became an associate professor at the Department of Botany in 1975, and soon after was appointed as the Professor of Ecology at the university. He was also associated with the

Forest Research Institute Malaysia The Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM; Malay: ''Institut Penyelidikan Perhutanan Malaysia'') is a statutory agency of the Government of Malaysia, under the Ministry of Land, Water and Natural Resources (KATS). FRIM promotes sustainab ...

(FRIM).

Publications

He authored monographs for the '' Flora Malesiana'' on the

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergre ...

(oak and chestnut family, Ser. 1, volume 7, 2 (1972)) and Ulmaceae (elm family, volume 8, 2 (1977)). He edited and authored the seven volumes of the ''Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak'' (1995–2011). He edited and helped complile ''The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Plants'', published in 1998. He also authored over 100 published papers. Dr. Soepadmo named over 70 species of plants, including species of ''

Lithocarpus ''Lithocarpus'' is a genus in the beech family, Fagaceae. Trees in this genus are commonly known as the stone oaks and differ from ''Quercus'' primarily because they produce insect-pollinated flowers on erect spikes and the female flowers have ...

'', '' Quercus'', '' Castanopsis'', and '' Celtis''. Dr. Soepadmo conducted research, authored papers, and led research expeditions which helped establish or create conservation strategies for various protected areas in Malaysia, including Endau-Rompin National Park, Royal Belum State Park, Bukit Tawai Protection Forest Reserve, Lanjak-Entimau/Betung Kerihun Transboundary Conservation Area, and Pulong Tau National Park.

Recognition

In 2012 he was given the Merdeka Award. The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) awarded Dr Soepadmo Honorary Life Membership in recognition of his "significant and meaningful contribution to the Malaysian Nature Society and their study of Malaysia’s natural heritage". In 2015 the Linnean Society of London awarded Dr. Soepadmo a Linnean Medal in recognition of his service to science. Plants named in recognition of Dr. Soepadmo include: *'' Actinodaphne soepadmoi'' (Lauraceae) *''

Aglaia soepadmoi ''Aglaia soepadmoi'' is a tree in the family Meliaceae. It grows up to tall. The fruits are roundish, up to in diameter. The tree is named for botanist and editor of ''Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak'' Engkik Soepadmo. Habitat is forests from s ...

'' (Meliaceae) *'' Cinnamomum soepadmoi'' (Lauraceae) *'' Ficus soepadmoi'' (Moraceae) *'' Syzygium soepadmoi'' (Myrtaceae) *''

Vatica soepadmoi ''Vatica soepadmoi'' is a species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. Distribution It is a tree endemic to Sumatra. It is a critically endangered species threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and ha ...

'' (Dipterocarpaceae) *''

Madhuca engkikiana ''Madhuca'' is a genus of plants in the family Sapotaceae first described as a genus in 1791.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Pennington, D. (2001 publ. 2002). World Checklist and Bibliography of Sapotaceae: 1-364. The Board of Trustees of the Roya ...

'' (Sapotaceae) *†'' Soepadmoa'' , a ~90–94 million year old extinct fossil genus of

.Gandolfo, M. A., Nixon, K. C., Crepet, W. L., and Grimaldi, D. A.. 2018. A late Cretaceous fagalean inflorescence preserved in amber from New Jersey. American Journal of Botany 105( 8): 1424– 1435.

References

{{Authority control Soepadmo, Engkik Soepadmo, Engkik Soepadmo, Engkik Soepadmo, Engkik