Jan Justus "Jan-Just" Bos (28 July 1939 – 24 March 2003) was a Dutch botanist, television presenter, and

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who competed in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

. Bos (Dutch for "forest") studied forestry at the

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public university, public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally i ...

. While a student in Wageningen, he was the

coxwain The coxswain ( or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...

of the Dutch coxed pair, which was eliminated in the

repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...

at the 1960 Olympics. Four years later he won a bronze medal in the same event, together with

Erik Hartsuiker Frederik Klaas Jan "Erik" Hartsuiker (19 October 1940 - 13 January 2019) was a Dutch rower who competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. In 1964, he won a bronze medal in the coxed pairs event, together with Herman Rouwé and Jan-Just Bos ...

and Herman Rouwé. From 1968 on he worked at his Wageningen University, becoming a faculty member of the department of

plant systematics The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lore usuall ...

. He specialized in the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

and spent six years in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

where he collected over 10,000 plants. In 1984 he defended a PhD on a study of the plants of the genus '' Dracaena'' in West Africa. In 1985 he led an expedition to Gabon. In the 1980s he was a presenter for the Dutch nature television series ''Ja, natuurlijk'' ("Yes, naturally").

References

1939 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Dutch botanists Dutch male rowers Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic rowers for the Netherlands Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wageningen University and Research alumni Academic staff of Wageningen University and Research People from Balikpapan Sportspeople from East Kalimantan Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Dutch coxswains (rowing) 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{netherlands-rowing-bio-stub