Ch'ien C. Lee () is a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

specialising in the

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Nepenthes ''Nepenthes'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are m ...

''. Lee has described several new ''Nepenthes'' species, including '' N. baramensis''Clarke, C., J.A. Moran & C.C. Lee 2011. ''Nepenthes baramensis'' (Nepenthaceae) – a new species from north-western Borneo . ''Blumea'' 56(3): 229–233. (now known as '' N. hemsleyana''Scharmann, M. & T.U. Grafe 2013. Reinstatement of ''Nepenthes hemsleyana'' (Nepenthaceae), an endemic pitcher plant from Borneo, with a discussion of associated ''Nepenthes'' taxa. ''Blumea'', published online on May 8, 2013. ), '' N. chaniana'',Clarke, C.M., C.C. Lee & S. McPherson 2006. ''Nepenthes chaniana'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from north-western Borneo. ''Sabah Parks Nature Journal'' 7: 53–66. '' N. gantungensis'',McPherson, S., J. Cervancia, C. Lee, M. Jaunzems, A. Fleischmann, F. Mey, E. Gironella & A. Robinson 2010. ''Nepenthes gantungensis'' (Nepenthaceae), a new pitcher plant species from Mount Gantung, Palawan, Philippines. In: S.R. McPherson ''Carnivorous Plants and their Habitats''. Volume 2. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. pp. 1286–1295. '' N. glandulifera'',Lee, C.C. 2004. New records and a new species of ''Nepenthes'' (Nepenthaceae) from Sarawak. ''Sandakania'' 15: 93–101. '' N. jamban'',Lee, C.C., Hernawati & P. Akhriadi 2006
Two new species of ''Nepenthes'' (Nepenthaceae) from North Sumatra
''Blumea'' 51(3): 561–568. '' N. lingulata'', '' N. palawanensis'',McPherson, S., J. Cervancia, C. Lee, M. Jaunzems, A. Fleischmann, F. Mey, E. Gironella & A. Robinson 2010. ''Nepenthes palawanensis'' (Nepenthaceae), a new pitcher plant species from Sultan Peak, Palawan Island, Philippines. In: S.R. McPherson ''Carnivorous Plants and their Habitats''. Volume 2. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. pp. 1332–1339. '' N. pitopangii'',Lee, C.C., S. McPherson, G. Bourke & M. Mansur 2009. ''Nepenthes pitopangii'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from central Sulawesi, Indonesia. ''Gardens' Bulletin Singapore'' 61(1): 95–100. '' N. platychila'',Lee, C.C. 2002. ''Nepenthes platychila'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species of pitcher plant from Sarawak, Borneo. ''Gardens' Bulletin Singapore'' 54: 257–261. and '' N. harauensis''. Lee also described the natural

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

'' N. × bauensis''. Ch'ien Lee holds a B.Sc. in Biology/Ecology from the

University of California Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located in Monterey Bay ...

. Having maintained a keen interest in nature since a child, his enthusiasm has led him to study various subjects ranging from

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

animal tracking Tracking in hunting and ecology is the science and art of observing animal tracks and other signs, with the goal of gaining understanding of the landscape and the animal being tracked (the "quarry"). A further goal of tracking is the deeper un ...

and

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary field at the interface of natural and social sciences that studies the relationships between humans and plants. It focuses on traditional knowledge of how plants are used, managed, and perceived in human socie ...

, and eventually to work as a naturalist and environmental educator in the East Bay Regional Parks in northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 1996, fulfilling a lifelong desire to live in the tropics, he moved to

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

(

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...

, on the island of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

) to work in a program for the propagation of native plant species. Ch'ien studied photography while at school and has always considered it an excellent method to convey ideas and share his fascination about natural subjects encountered during his travels.Free talk on Sarawak’s pitcher plants Sept 30
''BorneoPost Online'', September 14, 2011. His hobby became a professional endeavor in 2003. "Borneo is a fantastic place to live if you've got an insatiable interest in nature. It's easy for a photographer to get spoiled by the overwhelming diversity of subjects every time you're out. Of course working in the tropics presents some real obstacles for photography, but it's always worth the effort." Tropical

pitcher plants Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of pitcher plant are considered to be "true" pitcher plants and are formed by specialized ...

(''Nepenthes'') have been a major focus of his for over 12 years, and he has published a number of papers on their

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

: "A lot of my travel over the past decade has been in the pursuit of rare ''Nepenthes'' and this has taken me to many really remote parts of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

." His photographs have appeared in numerous articles and books, and are featured in ''Pitcher Plants of Sarawak'', ''The Fishes of Kuching Rivers'', and the second edition of ''

Pitcher Plants of Borneo ''Pitcher-Plants of Borneo'' is a monograph by Anthea Phillipps and Anthony Lamb on the tropical pitcher plants of Borneo. It was first published in 1996 by Natural History Publications (Borneo), in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, ...

''. He occasionally undertakes assignment photography, although freelance work remains his main interest. In addition to his photography, Ch'ien is currently engaged as a consultant at the Botanical Research Centre (Sarawak Forestry Corporation) in

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

and also periodically works as a nature guide for private group tours in

and

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

, and occasionally the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Publications

* Lee, C.C. 2002. ''Proceedings of the 4th International Carnivorous Plant Conference, Hiroshima University, Tokyo'': 25–30. * Lee, C.C. 2002. ''Nepenthes platychila'' (Nepenthaceae), a New Species of Pitcher Plant from Sarawak, Borneo. ''Gardens Bulletin Singapore'' 54: 257–261. * Clarke, C.M. & C.C. Lee 2004. ''A Pocket Guide: Pitcher Plants of Sarawak''.

Natural History Publications (Borneo) Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd. is a publishing house based in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. It is among the leading English language and natural history publishers in Malaysia and the entire Southeast Asian region. The company has publish ...

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

. vi + 81 pp. * Lee, C.C. 2004. ''Nepenthes''. In: Sarawak Bau Limestone Biodiversity. H.S. Yong, F.S.P. Ng and E.E.L. Yen (eds). ''The Sarawak Museum Journal'' Vol. LIX, No. 80; Special Issue No. 6: 71–77. * Lee, C.C. 2004. New records and a new species of ''Nepenthes'' (Nepenthaceae) from Sarawak. ''Sandakania'' 15: 93–101. * Clarke, C.M., C.C. Lee & S. McPherson 2006. ''Nepenthes chaniana'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from north-western Borneo. ''Sabah Parks Journal'' 7: 53–66. * Lee, C.C., Hernawati & P. Akhriadi 2006
Two new species of ''Nepenthes'' (Nepenthaceae) from North Sumatra
''Blumea'' 51(3): 561–568. * Phillips, A., A. Lamb & C.C. Lee 2008. ''Pitcher Plants of Borneo''. Second Edition. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. * Lee, C.C., S. McPherson, G. Bourke & M. Mansur 2009. ''Nepenthes pitopangii'' (Nepenthaceae), a new species from central Sulawesi, Indonesia. ''Gardens' Bulletin Singapore'' 61(1): 95–100. * Clarke, C., J.A. Moran & C.C. Lee 2011. ''Nepenthes baramensis'' (Nepenthaceae) – a new species from north-western Borneo . ''Blumea'' 56(3): 229–233.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ch'ien Year of birth missing (living people) American people of Chinese descent Living people University of California, Santa Cruz alumni