{{Short description|American paleobotanist (1962–2020)}} '''Brian J. Axsmith''' (June 3, 1962 – May 5, 2020) was an American paleobotanist, paleoecologist, and professor of biology at the University of South Alabama, where he taught ecology, evolutionary biology, and the evolution of vascular plants. Axsmith studied the evolutionary history of conifers and vascular plants. He specialized in the Neogene paleobotany of the Gulf Coastal Plain in the present-day United States, especially Alabama and Mississippi, as well as the Mesozoic paleobotany of eastern North America and China.<ref name=pe>{{cite news |title=Miocene Plants of Mississippi: Authors |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/component/content/article/537-906/2547-miocene-plants-of-mississippi-authors |work=Palaeontologia Electronica |date=2018-07-12 |access-date=2020-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510121730/https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/component/content/article/537-906/2547-miocene-plants-of-mississippi-authors |archive-date=2020-05-10 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=usa>{{cite news |title=Dr. Brian Axsmith's Research Area |url=https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/biology/axsmith_research.html |work=University of South Alabama |access-date=2020-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510124642/https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/biology/axsmith_research.html |archive-date=2020-05-10 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=al>{{cite news |title=Brian Axsmith explores the 'Ancient Forests of Alabama' at The Gardens on June 18 |url=https://www.al.com/good-things-growing/2016/06/post_70.html |work=Al.com |date=2016-06-08 |access-date=2020-05-10 }}</ref><ref name=pe2>{{cite news |title=Miocene Plants of Mississippi |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2019/2540-miocene-plants-of-mississippi |work=Palaeontologia Electronica |date=2018-07-12 |access-date=2020-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211035842/https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2019/2540-miocene-plants-of-mississippi |archive-date=2020-02-11 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Life and career== Axsmith was raised in suburban Philadelphia.<ref name=wala/> He received a Bachelor of Science from Millersville University of Pennsylvania.<ref name=ua>{{cite news |title=Directory: Dr. Brian Axsmith, Research Associate of Paleobotany |url=https://museums.ua.edu/people/brian-axsmith/ |work=University of Alabama Museums |access-date=2020-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510131741/https://museums.ua.edu/people/brian-axsmith/ |archive-date=2020-05-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Axmsith obtained his doctorate in biology from the University of Kansas in 1998.<ref name=pe/>
Some of Axsmith's most significant discoveries included the fossilized pollen and needles of the eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) in the Gulf Coastal Plain, which is no longer part of the tree's native range.<ref name=usa/> Additionally, Axsmith uncovered the earliest known, post-Eocene fossil record of Carpinus, better known as the hornbeam or ironwood trees, in North America.<ref name=usa/> Axsmith also discovered fossilized Pterocarya wingnuts in the Citronelle Formation in Mobile County, Alabama.<ref name="usa" /> Present-day pterocaryas are only found in Asia, but Axsmith's discovery indicated that the genus was once found in southeastern North America as well.<ref name="usa" />
He was married to Jennifer Axsmith and had a son.<ref name="wala" /> Axsmith died from complications of COVID-19 in Mobile, Alabama, on May 5, 2020, at age 57, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama, having been diagnosed in April.<ref name="wala">{{cite news |title=University of South Alabama professor dies from COVID-19 |url=https://www.fox10tv.com/news/coronavirus/university-of-south-alabama-professor-dies-from-covid-19/article_956b3318-8f0b-11ea-b45e-afcf5d488286.html |work=WALA-TV |date=2020-05-06 |access-date=2020-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509111049/https://www.fox10tv.com/news/coronavirus/university-of-south-alabama-professor-dies-from-covid-19/article_956b3318-8f0b-11ea-b45e-afcf5d488286.html |archive-date=2020-05-09 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wala2">{{cite news |first=Toi |last=Thorton |title='It's different when it hits your household,' widow of South Alabama professor who died of COVID-19 speaks out |url=https://www.fox10tv.com/news/coronavirus/its-different-when-it-hits-your-household-widow-of-south-alabama-professor-who-died-of/article_60ea63b4-90ca-11ea-b2e2-affe63fbf157.html |work=WALA-TV |date=2020-05-07 |access-date=2020-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510130946/https://www.fox10tv.com/news/coronavirus/its-different-when-it-hits-your-household-widow-of-south-alabama-professor-who-died-of/article_60ea63b4-90ca-11ea-b2e2-affe63fbf157.html |archive-date=2020-05-10 |url-status=live}}</ref>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Axsmith, Brian}} Category:2020 deaths Category:Paleobotanists Category:American botanists Category:American ecologists Category:University of South Alabama faculty Category:University of Kansas alumni Category:Millersville University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama Category:1962 births