Researching Joseph Rose

He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Wabash College in 1889. having received his B.A. in Biology and M.A. Paleobotany earlier at the same institute. He married Lou Beatrice Sims in 1888 and produced with her three sons and three daughters.

Rose worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and became an assistant curator at the Smithsonian in 1896.

While Rose was employed by the national museum, he was an authority on several plants families, including Apiaceae (Parsley Family) and Cactaceae (Cactus Family). He made several field trips to Mexico, and presented specimens to the Smithsonian and the New York Botanical Garden.

With Nathaniel Lord Britton, Rose published many articles on the Crassulaceae. He took a leave of absence from the Smithsonian to do further fieldwork in South America and publish with Britton, the four-volume work, The Cactaceae (1919–1923), illustrated by Mary Emily Eaton (1873–1961).

Rose returned to work afterwards at the Smithsonian, making further contributions to Botany.

In 2004, he wrote the newspaper's "Faces of Meth" story, which was turned into billboards and posters as well as replicated by other American media outlets, including PBS's Frontline. He has also written about the childhood and family of Portland-native Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons.

Rose's articles on a Gulf War war veteran secretly living in the wilderness of Portland's Forest Park with his young daughter were the inspiration for the 2018 film "Leave No Trace."

In 2008, Rose became The Oregonians chief transportation writer, with a daily blog and weekly Metro column called "Hard Drive".

He is a graduate of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. In 2018, he began studying for his Master of Divinity at Yale University.

When he was living in Oregon, Rose was also a leader of the "alternative liturgy" worship movement in the U.S. Episcopal Church. The movement creates worship services based on the music of popular contemporary musicians such as U2, Radiohead, Woody Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen. A March 2012 story in Willamette Week called Rose "the King of Hymns". In the article, Rose describes the spirit of the events: "We get a lot of folks who come but really aren’t connected to a church. They’re part of the very secular Oregon. But they feel a spiritual connection to popular music."

Rose's journalism awards include one for breaking news in the 2011 C.B. Blethen Awards and one of the 2013 National Headliner Awards in the category of special or feature column.

Rose was born in Norton, Derbyshire, a nephew to Joseph Rose Sr. (c. 1723 – 11 September 1780), who was himself a noted plasterer in the Roccoco style with works including Doncaster Mansion House, Nostell Priory, Felbrigg Hall, and the drawing room at Heath Hall in Yorkshire. The elder Rose worked primarily for Robert Adam from 1760 onward; the younger learned from his uncle and from a visit to Rome in 1768.

Rose worked for the family firm of Joseph Rose & Co., was appointed Master of the Worshipful Company of Plasterers in 1775, and succeeded his uncle as head of the firm upon his uncle's death in 1780. While some of the plaster work was performed on location, many of the more complex designs were created at his workshop in Queen Anne Street East, London, which included a wax room and casting room, as well as a mould room in which he kept wax moulds and plaster casts. Rose's work was primarily in the Neoclassical style for Robert Adam, and include ceiling work at Sledmere House and major commissions at Audley End, Bowood, Chatsworth House, Croome Court, Harewood House, Kedleston Hall, and Kenwood House.