Harold Koopowitz, Ph.D.
Harold Koopowitz grew up in South Africa, the child of an American mother.He attended university in South Africa, where he majored in both Botany and Zoology.
Eventually, he made his way to UCLA, where he completed his doctorate in 1968.
He has been a professor at UC Irvine since graduating
and was the Director of the UCI Arboretum for twenty years.
Currently, he is a Professor of Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Harold does research in orchid ecology and has worked in Zimbabwe for several years.
He is a member of the International Orchid Commission,
the Species Survival Commission for orchids for the IUCN,
and has served as a member of the AOS Conservation Committee for many years.
As an accredited judge for the American Orchid Society,
Harold is responsible for student training for the Pacific Southwest judging area.
He is a partner of Norito Hasegawa in the orchid firm Paphanatics, unLimited,
which is well known for hybridizing slipper orchids,
but he also has a special fondness for Jewel orchids and other terrestrials.
