Tom Reaume is presented with the Ralph Bird award for his successful culmination and publication of his book “620 Wild Plants of North America”.
Tom has been involved with the Manitoba Naturalists Society for many years, during which time he published and/or illustrated check lists of the flora and fauna of Manitoba. In more recent years, he has crafted pen and ink drawing and technical descriptions of plant species in Manitoba and the plains of North America. This botanical work is unrivaled in quality for precision of scientific description and illustration in Canada.
Tom has been interested in natural history for all his life. His mother was gifted at drawing, but he is largely a self-taught artist as well as a self-taught botanist.
He started his adult life as a wildlife biologist in Ontario after a degree at the University of Guelph. When his job expired, he moved to Winnipeg and turned to his hobbies of nature drawing, abstract photography and natural history. It is not easy making a living as an artist. In order to survive, he had to pursue his artistic endeavors aggressively, and with a single-mindedness that would allow him to achieve his mission.
The Manitoba Naturalists Society encouraged every step of his projects with facilities and financial support to the extent of its fullest ability. The Society and the wisdom of its directors must be congratulated and thanked for this foresight.
The Ralph Bird Award was created in 1985 to recognize the contribution that Dr. Bird made to natural history in Western Canada. He shared his knowledge freely, on field trips, in talks and articles.
The Board recognized similar characteristics in Tom Reaume – a desire to share his enjoyment of natural beauty by means of publications – this book, articles in Blue Jay magazine, and elsewhere. There are more on the way! Tom, we are grateful to you for this magnificent enterprise. Congratulations.
With the support of Nature Manitoba, Tom Reaume also published a book titled “Manitoba’s Tall Grass Prairie”.