Margaret Elizabeth Barr Bigelow (1923-2008) was a Canadian
mycologist known for her contributions to the
Ascomycetes fungi.
Biography
She was born on April 16, 1923 in
Elkhorn, Manitoba. She studied at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...
, receiving her
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in 1950 and her
Master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in 1952.
She went on to study under Lewis E. Wehmeyer at the University of Michigan, and received her doctorate in 1956 for her work on "The taxonomic position of the genus ''
Mycosphaerella
''Mycosphaerella'' is a genus of ascomycota. With more than 10,000 species, it is the largest genus of plant pathogen fungi.
The following introduction about the fungal genus ''Mycosphaerella'' is copied (with permission) from the dissertation o ...
'' as shown by comparative developmental studies".
After receiving her PhD, Barr-Bigelow and her husband, fellow mycologist
Howard E. Bigelow, spent several months collecting fungi in Maine while searching for a teaching position. Soon after, Barr took a position at the Botanical Institute at the University of Montreal as a National Research Council fellow. In 1957, the married mycologists traveled to the University of Massachusetts, where Howard Bigelow took a teaching position, but Margaret was unable to do so due to nepotism laws so she took an auxiliary position where she researched and taught.
Once the laws changed, Barr Bigelow was able to become a professor. Margaret and Howard remained at the University of Massachusetts for 30 years.
Two years after Howard died in 1987, Margaret moved to Sidney, British Columbia where she lived until her death in 2008.
Accomplishments
* 1986: General Chairman of the AIBS conference in Amherst
* 1986: Faculty Fellowship Award to research Pyrenomycetes
[Botany News (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) Vol. 7 Summer 1988]
* 1976-1980: Editor in Chief: Mycologia
* 1979-1980: Vice President,
Mycological Society of America
The Mycological Society of America (MSA) is a learned society that serves as the professional organization of mycologists in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded in 1932. The Society's constitution states that "The purpose of the Society is to prom ...
* 1981-1982: President, Mycological Society of America
* 1992: Elected Distinguished Mycologist by Mycological Society of America
In addition to the Mycological Society of America, Barr was a member of the American Institute of Biological Societies, International Association of Plant Taxonomists and British Mycological Society. She published more than 150 scientific publications on various
Ascomycetes, with the last one described in 2007.
Endowments established by Margaret Barr:
* The Howard E. and Margaret E. Barr Bigelow Endowed Fund for the Life Sciences Collection for biological sciences and geosciences journals
* W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts
* Howard E. Bigelow Mentor Fund
* Margaret E. Barr Bigelow Mentor Fund for student travel to annual meetings of the MSA
Margaret and her husband collected many fungal specimens, which are now mostly displayed at the New York Botanical Garden. Some of Margaret's collection are also held at the Canada Department of Agriculture in Ottawa and the University of British Columbia.
Publications
* Barr ME. 1978. The Diaporthales in North America with emphasis on Gnomonia and its segregates. Mycol Mem 7:1–232.
* 1987. Prodromus to class Loculoascomycetes. Amherst, Massachusetts: Publ by the author. 168 p.
* 1990a. Melanommatales (Loculoascomycetes). N Am Flor, Ser II 13:1–129.
* 1990b. Some dictyosporous genera and species of Pleosporales in North America. Mem NY Bot Gard 62: 1–92.
* 1990c. Prodromus to nonlichenized, pyrenomycetous members of class Hymenoascomycetes. Mycotaxon 39:43–184.
* Rogerson CT. 1996. The pyrenomycetes described by J.B. Ellis. Mem NY Bot Gard 79:1–137.
* M, Barr ME, Samuels GJ. 1999. Chaetosphaeriaceae, a new family for Chaetosphaeria and its relatives. Sydowia 51:49–70.
* Huhndorf SM. 2000. Loculoascomycetes. In: McLaughlin DJ, McLaughlin E, eds. The Mycota, Vol. VII. Springer-Verlag. p 283–305.
* Marincowitz S, Barr ME. 2007. Rhynchomeliola quercina, a new rostrate ascomycete from oak trees in western Canada. Mycotaxon 101:173–178.
Genera and species of fungi, named after M.E. Barr
*''
Barrella'' Ahn & Shearer, 1995
*''
Barria'' Z.Q.Yuan, 1994
*''
Barrina'' A.W.Ramaley, 1997
*''
Barrmaelia'' Rappaz, 1995
*''
Margaretbarromyces'' Mindell, Stockey, Beard & Currah, 2007
*''
Mebarria'' J.Reid & C.Booth, 1989
*''
Bricookea barriae'' Shoemaker & C.E.Babc., 1989
*''
Gibbera barriae'' L.Holm & K.Holm, 1980
*''
Hysterium barrianum'' E.W.A.Boehm, A.N.Mill., Mugambi, Huhndorf & C.L.Schoch, 2009
*''
Leptosphaeria barriae'' Shoemaker, 1985
*''
Paraphaeosphaeria barriae'' Checa, 2002
*''
Phaeosphaeria barriae'' Fallah, J.L.Crane & Shearer, 1998
*''
Plagiostoma barriae'' Sogonov, 2008
*''
Trichometasphaeria barriae'' Chleb., 2009
*''
Wettsteinina barriae'' Shoemaker & C.E.Babc., 1987
See also
*
:Taxa named by Margaret Elizabeth Barr-Bigelow
*
List of mycologists
This is a non-exhaustive list of mycologists, or scientists with a specialisation in mycology, with their author abbreviations. Because the study of lichens is traditionally considered a branch of mycology, lichenologists are included in this li ...
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr-Bigelow, Margaret Elizabeth
1923 births
2008 deaths
Canadian mycologists
Canadian expatriates in the United States
University of Michigan alumni
University of British Columbia alumni
Women mycologists