Lermond remained an amateur naturalist but was noted as being the "...foremost naturalist in New England and labored tirelessly to interest and organize both professionals and amateurs alike to study the natural history of Maine." In addition to his observations around Boston and Maine, "He studied flora and fauna of the Pacific Coast, and in the states of
Arkansas and
Tennessee, and dredged for shells off the coast of
Florida. He studied nature in the
Bahamas and
Cuba, and camped in the
Everglades for a period of three weeks with a party of eminent scientists doing research work. For several months at two different times, he was assistant in the Department of Mollusks at
Harvard College."
The Knox Arboretum, Knox Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Maine Naturalist Lermond organized and directed the
Knox Academy of Arts and Sciences, established in 1913, and established the Knox Arboretum which was roughly sixty acres of land with approximately 3500' of tidal frontage and a large brick house at the junction the
St. George and
Oyster Rivers in
Warren, Maine. The arboretum also housed a library and herbarium. Also a Charles Creighten's collection of birds, local Indian relics, butterflies, minnows, and tourmaline. The property was offered to the State of Maine and was accepted at first and funded but in 1937 the eighty-eighth state legislature declined acceptance of the deed to the Knox Arboretum writing that the arboretum "...is one of the outstanding attractions in the state..." but would cause expenses at a time the citizens demanded no unnecessary expenses and there was a question about the quality of the title. The Knox Academy has such members as
John Harvey Lovell, and
Marie Curie became an honorary Life Member on June 18, 1921. Lermond founded and edited the Knox Academy's journal,
The Maine Naturalist. Upon his death in 1944 the arboretum and Knox Academy ended.
American Malacological Union Lermond was the founder of the
American Malacological Union in 1931. Lermond initially called the group the American Association of Conchologists but that name had been used previously by a group started by John Campbell of Philadelphia in 1890. The name was changed at the first meeting April 1931 in Philadelphia. Today the group is the American Malacological Society. In his study of
mollusks, Lermond collect enough shells to fill "100 cases" and was estimated by the
Smithsonian Institution in 1940s to be valued at $50,000. One type was a new discovery and was named in honor of him,
Caecum lermondi but was found to have been previously identified as
Meioceras nitidum. The Lermond shell collection was acquired by
Colby College in
Waterville, Maine to be put on display, but then went to the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard University) and the
Delaware Museum of Natural History. ==Publications==