John Hessler

When not climbing in the Alps, mountain biking through some jungle, or searching through ruins in Central America, John W. Hessler is the Curator of the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Archaeology and History of the Early Americas and a Specialist in Geographic Information Science at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Formerly of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, his current research focuses on the linguistics and ethnobotany of medicinal plants amongst the ancient Nahau and Maya and on the traditional plant classification schemes in the Amazon.