Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 21:44:55 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Roxie Laybourne obituary in today's Post Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Today's Washington Post published the obituary for Roxie Laybourne, who died August 7 at the age of 92 at her home in Manassas. Anyone who frequented the Smithsonian's Division of Birds or who was involved (as I was) with the Naturalist Center when it was downtown in the Museum of Natural History knew Roxie. She was known internationally as a forensic ornithologist, who was called upon by a number of federal and state agencies to employ her unique knowledge of bird feathers to solve crimes or identify birds involved in aircraft strikes. We at the Naturalist Center took part in the bird skin preparation classes she held on Tuesday evenings. A curator of the museum's huge bird collection, she also trained a number of younger scientists in her pioneering forensic techniques. Roxie retired officially in 1988 although I recall encountering her in the museum's bird collection on several visits well into the 1990s. She was a fascinating and dedicated person whom I will never forget. Gail Mackiernan Colesville, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================