Carl E. Lewis was named director of the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in December 2008. Carl has been associated with the Fairchild since 2000 when he became a postdoctoral researcher.

Lewis earned a Ph.D. in systemic botany at Cornell in the Jeff Doyle lab. His thesis topic was the Systematics of palm subtribe Oncospermatinae.

His major focus has been determining the family tree of palms to understand their evolutionary history. Lewis has created an online guide to palms growing in Florida and a DNA bank that can be used by researchers worldwide.

Carl's other research projects include systematics, evolution and biogeography of palms, conservation genetics, and plant exploration.