Eric John Godley (10 May 1919 – 27 June 2010)

OBE 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 ...

, FRSNZ, Hon FLS, Hon DSc (Cantuar.), AHRNZIH was a New Zealand

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and academic biographer. He is best known for his long-running series of in the popular magazine '' New Zealand Gardener'' and his "Biographical notes" series that ran in the '' New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter'' and which is the prime resource on the lives of many New Zealand botanists. Born in the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

suburb of Devonport to parents Rupert and Louise E. Godley, Godley grew up in Auckland and did his BSc at MSc at Auckland University College, followed by service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and a PhD at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a 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. Cambridge bec ...

in cytology and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

under Ronald Fisher. He returned to lecture at Auckland before moving to the

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

at Lincoln, rising to Director of the Botany Division 1958–1981. His work included three trips to the New Zealand subantarctic islands on three occasions, including the Antipodes Islands, the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island. These islands and the geographically separated flora and fauna are botanically important as studies in dispersion and evolution of plants and animals.

Awards and honours

* 1974 – Leonard Cockayne Memorial Lecture of the Royal Society of New Zealand * 1986 – Hutton Medal of the Royal Society of New Zealand * 1990 –

For services to

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

Awards and honours

References

Further reading