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John G. Packer became Curator of the herbarium in 1958. Until his retirement in 1988, his main research interests were the origin and evolution of the arctic and alpine flora, in particular the effects of the quaternary glaciations. In 1983, he published a revised edition of Moss’s Flora of Alberta, which remains the standard reference for Alberta and adjacent regions. Packer’s collections were primarily from Alberta, Alaska, and the Northwest and Yukon Territories. He participated in one of the Department’s extensive research programs during this time: a study of the ecosystem of Devon Island, Northwest Territories, in conjunction with the international Biological Programme’s Tundra Biome Project (1969-1975). As professor emeritus, Packer remains interested in the production of user-friendly floras of Alberta and North America.