Ethel Irene McLennan
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Ethel Irene McLennan (15 March 1891 – 12 June 1983) was an Australian botanist, mycologist and educator.


Personal life and early career

The daughter of George McLennan and Eleanor Tucker, she was born in
Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Williamstown recorded a population of 14,407 at the 2021 census. ...
and was educated at the Tintern Church of England Girls' Grammar School in Hawthorn. In 1914, she received a
BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
from the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
. From 1915 to 1931, she was a demonstrator and botany lecturer at the university. Her main areas of interest were
mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogen ...
and plant-fungal relationships. However, she was also one of the illustrators of The Flora of the Northern Territories (1917). In 1921, McLennan completed a DSc at the university. She received an International Federation of University Women fellowship in 1925 which allowed her to pursue research at the Rothamsted Agricultural Experimental Station and the
Imperial College of Science and Technology Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
in London. In 1927, she was awarded the David Syme Research Prize by the University of Melbourne for her work on ''Lolium'', the second woman to win the prize. McLennan died in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
at the age of 92.


Academic career

From 1931 to 1955, she was an associate professor of botany at the University of Melbourne; her research areas particularly included fungal symbioses and endophytes and also the fungal flora of soils. McLennan was acting head of the Biology department from 1937 to 1938. In collaboration with colleagues during the Second World War, she contributed to improvements to the utility of optical instruments in tropical regions, where fungi were prone to cause defects. She retired in 1955; from 1956 to 1972, she was part-time keeper of the university herbarium. In 1929, McLennan was chair of the Australian Pan-Pacific Women's Committee and, in 1934, she was president of the Australian Federation of University Women.


Notable publications

She was author or co-author of at least 17 publications including: * Derrick, E and McLennan, E. I. (1963
Fungus spores found in the air in Melbourne (Victoria) Australia.
''Acta Allergologica'' European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 18 26 - 43 * EI McLennan (1959
''Gastrodia sesamoides'' R. Br. and its endophyte
''Australian Journal of Botany'' 7 225 - 229 * McLennan, E. I. and Ducker, S. C. (1954
The ecology of the soil fungi of an Australian heathland.
''Australian Journal of Botany'' 2 220 - 245 * Preston, A. and McLennan, E. I. (1948
The uses of dyes in culture media for distinguishing brown and white wood-rotting fungi.
Annals of Botany 12 53 - 64 * Turner, J. S., McLennan, E. I., Rogers, J. S. and Matthaei, E. (1946
Tropic-Proofing of Optical Instruments by a Fungicide.
''Nature'' 158 469-472 * McLennan, E. I. (1935
Non-Symbiotic Development of Seedlings of ''Epacris impressa'' Labill
''New Phytologist'' 34 55 - 63 * McLennan, E. I. (1928
The growth of fungi in soil
A''nnals of Applied Biology'' 15 95-109 * McLennan, E. I. (1926
The endophytic fungus of Lolium II. The mycorrhiza on the roots of Lolium temulentum, L, with a discussion on the physiological relationships of the organism concerned.
Annals of Botany 40 43-68


See also

* '' Backusella mclennaniae'' – named in honour of McLennan


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mclennan, Ethel Irene 1891 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Australian botanists University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Melbourne 20th-century Australian women scientists People from Williamstown, Victoria Scientists from Melbourne