14 January 1949 – 6 August 2021 1
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) curates about 200 vascular plant specimens collected by Pamela E. Burns Balogh.2 Most were signed “Pamela Balogh” and were collected in Bossier Parish, Louisiana during her work on the flora of Barksdale Air Force Base. As NCU staff continue to catalog our collections it is very likely that more specimens collected by Dr. Burns Balogh will be found.
She earned a B. A. in Botany from Kent State in 1971, and continued at Kent State for her Masters degree in 1973. The Kent State University Herbarium (KE) curates many vascular plant specimens collected by Dr. Burns Balogh.
She earned her doctorate from the University of Maryland in 1980; the title of her thesis was “Systematic Studies Of Subtribe Spiranthinae Lindley (Orchidaceae)“.
She continued to study orchids for the remainder of her academic career.
Other herbaria curating vascular plant specimens collected by Dr. Burns Balogh include Field Museum (F), San Diego Natural History Museum (SD), Texas A & M University (TAES), Towson University (BALT), University of Illinois (ILL), Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (SEL), Missouri Botanical Garden (MO), University of Michigan (MICH), and the US National Herbarium (US).2
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“Dr. Pamela Burns Balogh, 72, of Champaign [Illinois] died Friday (Aug. 6, 2021) at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana [Illinois]. Pam was born January 14, 1949, in Austin, Texas. She met her husband, Michael J. Balogh, while studying at Kent State. After graduation, they got married in Edison, New Jersey, on August 28, 1971. She was preceded in death by her father and mother, Robert R. and Gladys Burns. She is survived by her husband, Michael (Mike), of 50 years of marriage, her son, Scott, two sisters and a brother, Roberta, Debbie, and Gary, an niece Jessica (Burns), and three nephew, Robert (Burns), Nathan and Mathew (Hoffman).
Pam followed her husband, Mike, who was in the United States Air Force, to various stations of duty. Her botanical career started at Barksdale AFB [Air Force Base], Shreveport, Louisiana, where she was appointed the Base Botanist and wrote a book about vegetation of the base. After moving to Maryland, Pam graduated with a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Maryland. She specialized in the study of terrestrial orchids. In the time she collected and identified orchids, she assembled one of the largest collections of orchid pollinaria in her field. Pam took two trips to Mexico to study and collect orchids. Most of her research was done at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. She also studied and did research at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City, Panama. Pam would go on to collect and identify orchids in Europe while Mike was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany.
After visiting many countries in Europe, her career in orchids came to an end when Mike was stationed at Chanute AFB [Air Force Base], Ranoul, Illinois. She then opened a mail order family book business selling scientific books, this legacy continues through the efforts of her son and has been active over 30 years. In addition to her extensive research, Pam taught college courses at Centenary College of Louisiana at Shreveport, Louisiana, University of Montana at Missoula, Montana, and Montgomery Community College in Germantown, Maryland. Over the years, she wrote several books and numerous scientific articles in refereed journals. In addition to her publications on orchids, she wrote a book on the history of binnacles.
Affectionately called “Buffalo Pam”, she was a trailblazer and adventurer. pam loved to travel, and especially enjoyed RVing in recent years. Intelligent, supportive, and generous are all words that could be used to describe Pam, but most importantly she was loving and kind. Author, Business owner, self-taught computer expert, polyglot and avid traveler, she was always thinking of the Next Big Thing to accomplish in her life. Dedicated wife and mother, esteemed aunt, she held deep appreciation for nautical history, soft, cozy blankets and Cooper’s Pit BBQ (Llano, Texas). Her son will greatly miss sharing many spirited conversations, family adventures and common interests. Those she left behind feel a truly immeasurable loss but will will honor her memory through the love we carry for her and one another…
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Champaign County Humane Society.” 1
Dr. Burns-Balough’s ashes are interred in the Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida. 1
PUBLICATIONS (incomplete list):
Burns-Balogh, Pamela. 2011. A History of Binnacles. 526 pages, completely illustrated with B&W and color photos. ISBN 978-1-878762-24-5.
Hesse, Michael, Pamela Burns-Balogh, and M. Wolff. 1989. Pollen morphology of the “primitive” epidendroid orchids. Grana 28 (4): 261–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173138909427440
Burns-Balogh, Pamela and Michael Hesse. 1988. Pollen morphology of the cypripedioid orchids. Plant Systematics and Evolution 158: 165-182.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela and Peter Bernhardt. 1988. Flora evolution and phylogeny in the tribe Thelymitreae (Orchidaceae: Neottioideae). Plant systematics and Evolution 159: 19-47.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela, Dariusz L. Szlachetko, and Amots Dafni. 1987. Evolution, pollination, and systematics of the tribe Neottieae (Orchidaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 156: 91-115.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela and V. A. Funk. 1986. A phylogenetic analysis of the Orchidaceae. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany; No. 61.
Bernhardt, Peter and Pamela Burns-Balogh. 1986. Observations of the flora biology of Prasophyllum odoratum (Orchidaceae, Spiranthoideae). Plant Systematics and Evolution153:65-76.
Bernhardt, Peter and Pamela Burns-Balogh. 1986. Floral mimesis in Thelymitranuda (Orchidaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 151: 187-202.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela and Peter Bernhardt. 1985. Evolutionary trends in the androecium of the Orchidaceae. Plant Systematics and Evolution. 149: 119-134.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela, Harold Robinson, and Mercedes S. Foster. 1985. The capitate-flowered epiphytic Spiranthinae (Orchidaceae) and a new genus from Paraguay. Brittonia 37 (2): 154-162.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela. 1984. Classification of the tribe Diurideae (Orchidaceae) I. subtribe Prasophyllinae Schlechter. Selbyana 7 (2/4): 318-327.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela and Mercedes S. Foster. 1984. A new species of Sarcoglottis (Orchidaceae) from Paraguay. Selbyana7(2/4):359-360.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela. 1983. A theory on the ev0lution of the exine in Orchidaceae. American Journal of Botany 70 (9): 1304-1312.
Burns-Balogh, Pamela and Harold Robinson. 1983. Evolution of phylogeny of the Pelexia Alliance (Orchidaceae: Spiranthoideae: Spiranthinae). Systematic Botany 8 (3): 263-268.
Robinson, Harold and Pamela Burns-Balogh. 1982. Evidence for a primitively epiphytic habit in Orchidaceae. Systematic Botany 7 (4): 353-358.
Balogh, P. B. 1980. Systematic Studies Of Subtribe Spiranthinae Lindley (Orchidaceae). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Balogh, Pamela. 1976. A Vegetational Survey of Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. unpublished manuscript.
Balogh, Pamela. 1973. Palynology and ethnobotany of some archeologically important plants. M.S. Thesis, Kent State, Kent, Ohio.
SOURCES:
1. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/247432436/pamela_e-balogh: accessed June 7, 2024), memorial page for Pamela E. Burns Balogh (14 Jan 1949–6 Aug 2021), Find a Grave Memorial ID 247432436, citing Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida, USA; Maintained by Earth Angel (contributor 47237289).
2. SERNEC Data Portal. 2024. http//:sernecportal.org/index.php. Accessed on June 10.