Dr. Edgar Barton Worthington, M.A., Ph.D., (Cantab).,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(13 January 190514 October 2001) was a British

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and science administrator.

Biography

His parents were Edgar and Amy Worthington. His early education was at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, before he went up to gain a First in

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

at Gonville and Cauis College at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. After university, his work alternated between Britain and Africa. He took part in an African lakes expedition in 192731; and in an African research expedition 193437, for which he was awarded the Mungo Park Medal of the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

. He was secretary to and first full-time director of the

Freshwater Biological Association The Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) is an independent scientific organisation founded in 1929 in Cumbria by Felix Eugen Fritsch, William Harold Pearsall, Francis Balfour-Browne, and Robert Gurney among others. Whilst originally created to ...

193746. He returned to Africa in the late 1940s as science and development advisor. He was deputy scientific director for the

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

195765, and scientific director of the International Biological Programme (IBP) 196474. His interests included water biology and international nature conservation, including the environmental impacts of drainage and irrigation. He was appointed

in 1977. In 1930, Worthington married Stella Johnson, who had been a member of the earlier expeditions he had undertaken and who shared many of his interests. In 1933, they jointly published the book ''Inland Waters of Africa''. They had three daughters, all of whom followed their parents' scientific inclinations. Stella Worthington died in 1978. Two years later, he married Harriet Stockton. He died on 14 December 2001.

Taxa named in honour

Worthington is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of venomous

viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

, '' Bitis worthingtoni'',Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Worthington", p. 289). which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the high central

Rift Valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear d ...

of Kenya; and in the names of the Lake Victoria endemic cichlids '' Haplochromis bartoni'' and '' H. worthingtoni''.

Partial bibliography

* 1933: ''Inland Waters of Africa: The Result of Two Expeditions to the Great Lakes of Kenya and Uganda, with Accounts of Their Biology, Native Tribes and Development'' (with Stella Worthington), Macmillan and co Ltd * 1938: SCIENCE IN AFRICA: A REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH RELATING TO TROPICAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA, Oxford University Press, London, New York, Toronto. * 1951: ''Life in Lakes and Rivers'' (with T. T. Macan).

New Naturalist The New Naturalist Library (also known as ''The New Naturalists'') is a series of books published by Collins in the United Kingdom, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the British Isles. The aim of the series at the start was: "T ...

#15. Collins, London. * 1983: ''The Ecological Century: A Personal Appraisal''. Oxford University Press. * 2009: ''The Evolution of IBP'' (editor). Cambridge University Press. (this overall account was first published in 1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthington, E. Barton 1905 births 2001 deaths Scientists from London British ecologists New Naturalist writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge

Biography

Taxa named in honour

Partial bibliography

See also

References