Charles Torrey Simpson

Charles Torrey Simpson was an American botanist, malacologist, and conservationist. He retired to Florida where he became known for conservation.

Scientific work

His initial scientific interests included collecting shells, and he began as a conchologist. Although he had little more than a high school education he became well regarded in the field and in 1889 was hired by the Smithsonian Institution. He went on to work at the National Museum of Natural History from 1899 to 1902. He was interested mainly in freshwater bivalves and also in land snails of Florida.

Life in Florida

In Florida Simpson gained the nickname "The Sage of Biscayne Bay" and wrote several books about tropical plant life around Miami. His backyard contained a tropical hardwood hammock, which he estimated he showed to approximately 50,000 people. Though he tended to avoid controversy regarding development, in Ornamental Gardening in Florida, he wrote, "Mankind everywhere has an insane desire to waste and destroy the good and beautiful things this nature has lavished upon him". In 1927 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Miami. Simpson Park Hammock near Downtown Miami is named in his honor.