Notable South Florida People: Naturalist Roger Hammer

The other day I was telling someone that I had breakfast with Roger Hammer at his Homestead home surrounded by a veritable botanical garden full of exotic tropical and native plants. “Who is that?” my friend asked. I was shocked, I thought everyone had heard of Roger Hammer, a famous author, subject matter expert on everything Florida with a larger than life personality. Those who have met him would have trouble describing him in a few words, but I will try. He is a famous Florida naturalist, botanist, gardener, surfer, explorer, photographer, orchid expert, storyteller and speaker. Bobby Hattaway PhD, retired botanist, Environmental Specialist for the Florida Park Service II and past president of the Georgia Botanical Society said, “Roger Hammer is the best naturalist in the Southeastern U.S. That means more than a botanist, more than an ecologist and more than a zoologist.”  Roger was even a survivalist instructor for the Discovery Channels television show “Naked and Afraid.” He told me that he is the real Skunk Ape, but you will need to read on for more on that topic! 

Dr. Hammer, as we should call him as he has an Honorary Doctor of Science from Florida International University, has won many awards; some of these include a lifetime achievement award from the Florida Native Plant Society, Tropical Audubon Society and the North American Butterfly Association. He received the first ever Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award. Professor of plant conservation Dr. Hong Liu, Florida International University and researcher for the Fairchild Botanic Garden said, “Roger is one of the most knowledgeable people in Florida in what we have in the biodiversity in the area. He has made a great impact on others through the knowledge he has imparted from books, presentations and conversations. He is also very generous in sharing his knowledge, I am very grateful for his kindness.”

Roger, the unique person that he is, has a very interesting backstory. In his earlier years he was a competitive surfer that grew up in Cocoa Beach. One of his fellow surfers was the notorious Jack ‘Murph the Surf’ who stole the Star of India and other gems from the Museum of Natural History. 

During the Vietnam War, he enlisted in order to have some choice of where he would be deployed. Basic training was held in Fort Knox, Kentucky with training to operate fifty caliber tank guns. He was then sent to Germany where he saw his first and hopefully last snow before he was redeployed. “They got me out of the country because they were scared that I would drink all of the alcohol,” he says jokingly. In Maryland he trained to be a winch operator. 

He then traveled by ship through the Panama Canal on his way to Okinawa for a 90-day training prior to being sent to Cameron Bay in Vietnam. In Vietnam he met a GS-13 civilian government employee looking for assistance with starting an Army education center helping soldiers test in order to get a GED. Soon after he applied for the position a Captain approached him. “You lucky person (not his exact words as they were more colorful), you are getting on a C130 turboprop military transport aircraft for an 18 month tour in Japan,” he told Hammer. As an avid surfer who missed his sport, he had his mom ship his surfboard over to Japan. He was probably the only person who ever surfed there at the time. 

After his military career, a new focus on the environment and a scientific career was started by his uncle, a University of Miami employee. He told Roger about a seven-year grant that was awarded to fund a biologist position. He applied and got the biologist job researching shrimp farming as a potential economically feasible business.

His next position also came from someone he knew. A friend who respected Roger told him that he was leaving his position at Castellow Hammock Preserve and Nature Center in Miami. He asked if Roger wanted to apply for it. He did and became the Preserves manager for over 33 years. This job had some different requirements.  He remembers that he was expected to speak in front of audiences and he had a great fear of public speaking; “I had to present to a Girl Scout Group, and I was shaking”.

Nowadays Roger speaks for large groups with no problem. He was the keynote speaker at the 19th World Orchid Conference attended by an audience of several thousand people. His soon-to-be wife at the time, Michelle, asked if he had prepared and had written something down prior to the event and he said “no, I know what I will be talking about.” At the 2011 Eastern Airlines Orchid Society he wasn’t scheduled to speak but raised his hand to ask a question and proposed to his wife Michelle.

In 1972, Roger bought a book that would drastically change his weekends if not his entire life - Dr. Carlyle Luer’s “The Native Orchids of Florida.” At the time there were 102 Native Orchids identified in the State of Florida. He would look in the book and see where a specific orchid was found and travel in his ‘65 van and find it. In doing so, he visited the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and found a new species not shown in the book. He contacted Dr. Luer and took him to see the new species. Two years later he found another new species in Fuchs Hammock and later in the Fakahatchee. He added two new orchids to the list and now there are a total of 110 native orchid species in Florida, more than any other state, including Hawaii, which surprisingly only has three. Alaska has 37. 

This is the part where the swamp ape visual comes into play. Roger went deep into the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve Park exploring for orchids on one of his expeditions. As an endangered plant researcher, I might spend a day in the swamp, and have even come out after the sun has set but could not imagine spending the night. Well, five whole days after starting his exploration and sleeping in a hammock at night, Roger emerged out of the swamp onto Alligator Alley. He needed a ride back to his vehicle parked at the “Fak”. He says he looked and smelled like a swamp ape. He must have looked scary. A passing chicken truck picked him up and made him ride in the back with the chickens all the way to the entrance of Janes Scenic Drive. In 1996, the editor of Orchids, the Magazine of the American Orchid Society printed his story: “Into the Heart of Muddy Creek, Roger L. Hammer sloshes through Florida’s Fakahatchee Swamp in pursuit of Orchids.” This article was one of several he penned.

A lot of books followed including “Florida Icons – 50 Classic Views of the Sunshine State”, the Falcon Guides “To Everglades Wildflowers”, “Wildflowers of the Florida Keys”, “Complete Guide to Florida Wildflowers”, “Exploring Everglades National Park and the Surrounding Area,” “Paddling Everglades and Biscayne National Parks” and “Central Florida Wildflowers.” Several of his books are in second editions. He just sent the third edition of another last week to the publisher. 

He describes how his first book was published in 2000. “I was sitting at home back in 1999 and the phone rang - it was Falcon Publishing from Montana. They were asking many people, including experts at Fairchild Botanical Gardens and others, about who could write about the Everglades and they pointed to me.” The book is now in the second edition from 2014. His next book, Foraging Florida detailing edible and medicinal plants of Florida will be available on Amazon pre publishing this summer. 

Now you try to describe Dr. Roger L. Hammer in a few words.