Reinhard Stettler learned about cottonwoods thanks to his inquisitive nature. Aspens, too. Poplars, too. From their genetic composition to his efforts that led to a surge in hybrid poplars in Oregon and Washington, the trees are still found in plantations that are expanding throughout the Northwest.
Stettler passed away on December 9, just before turning 95, due to dementia-related problems.
Stettler was planned to pursue a career at the University of Washington as a new faculty member that would advance the economic significance of Douglas fir, one of the state’s flagship conifers. That didn’t occur.
Rather, Stettler, who has always been an iconoclast and free thinker, picked the genus Populus—cottonwoods, poplars, and aspens—for his research when he was hired at the university’s College of Forest Resources (now the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences) in 1963 because he could examine the genetic makeup of those trees, according to his son Dan. Because of its quick generational intervals, ease of cloning, and quick development, Stettler had discovered the ideal subject for his hybridization experiments.
His finding that hybrids of eastern cottonwood and black cottonwood, which are native to the Pacific Northwest, grow extraordinarily quickly—nearly 10 feet annually—was one of his numerous achievements. In Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, a new forest products industry emerged along with a commercial boom for the pulp and biofuel industries.
The U.S. Department of Energy took notice and gave Stettler and his group a sizable grant that would support a global network of researchers for the next 20 years, including ecologists, chemists, pathologists, physiologists, and molecular biologists.
According to Stettler’s colleague and professor emeritus at the University of Washington, Tom Hinckley, all of this is typical of a scientist who thrived at teamwork and was highly regarded for his work. His use of the scientific method and the honesty of his writing earned him recognition. According to Hinckley, he was always careful and conservative in his assessment of the results. He had a sharp mind.
Additionally, he would notice something out of the ordinary and inquire as to why.
Stettler was born on December 27, 1929, in Steckborn, Switzerland. He and his wife, Monique Gerwig, left Switzerland in 1955 to pursue graduate studies at the University of British Columbia in British Columbia. In 1959, they moved to Berkeley, where Stettler obtained his doctorate in plant genetics from the University of California, Berkeley. In May 1963, he became a member of the UW faculty.
He developed a reputation as an interesting and compassionate instructor there, spending time with each student one-on-one to teach them observation and interpretation techniques. According to his close friend Penelope West, his fieldwork courses were renowned for being amazing adventures that transformed nonscientists into scientists and skeptics into tree lovers. Stettler received the 1990 UW Distinguished Teaching Award, a campus-wide honor, in appreciation of his brilliance.
According to Dan Stettler, Stettler was also a skilled chef of regional Swiss cuisine, including curries, a four-language speaker, an accordion player, a sketch artist, and a poet.
Reinhard Stettler was not satisfied with merely sharing his knowledge with other scientists; he also wrote a book for the general public, Cottonwood and the River of Time (UW Press, 2009), in which he praised the qualities and extraordinary tenacity of the tree he so fondly knew and cherished. And in a tale so well-liked that it was printed twice, he imparted his tree knowledge to readers of the Seattle Times.
According to Nick Wheeler, whom Stettler allowed to visit his lab once a week to discuss scientific publications, his excitement was contagious. Wheeler, who is now retired, worked for Weyerhaeuser and then as a private consultant for a long time as a forest genetics research scientist. Although I was never his student, he was incredibly kind with his time and played a significant role in my growth and the reason I chose to pursue this career path, Wheeler said.
Stettler’s surviving family members include his grandson Nico from Philadelphia, his son Daniel from Seattle, and his older brother Emanuel from Kirchdorf, Switzerland. In the spring, Seattle will celebrate his life, while Kandersteg, Switzerland, will do the same in the early summer.
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