Marion Isabel Newbigin (1869 – 20 July 1934) was a Scottish geographer, biologist and academic author. She was noted for her book ''Animal Geography'', a key work in the field of animal geography/

zoogeography Zoogeography is the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with geographic distribution (present and past) of animal species. As a multifaceted field of study, zoogeography incorporates methods of molecular biology, genetics, mo ...

, and as editor of the ''

Scottish Geographical Magazine Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

''.

Early life and education

Newbigin was born at

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

the daughter of local pharmacist James Lesslie Newbigin. She had four sisters and three brothers. She and all of her sisters were ardent feminists, and two of them also had academic careers. Universities in Scotland did not admit women, so she took courses at the

Edinburgh Association for the University Education of Women The Edinburgh Association for the University Education of Women (EAUEW), originally known as the Edinburgh Ladies' Educational Association (ELEA), campaigned for higher education for women from 1867 until 1892 when Scottish universities started ...

, a private organisation that offered lectures by the faculty of the University of Edinburgh; at

University College, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University ( cy, Prifysgol Aberystwyth) is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The universi ...

, in Wales; and at the

Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women The Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October of 1886, with support from the National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women. Sophia Jex-Blake was appointed as bot ...

, once it was formed. Finally, she moved to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, where in 1893 she received a BSc, and in 1898 a PhD. While a student in Edinburgh she started to work as an assistant for zoologist J. Arthur Thomson, then a lecturer at the School of Medicine for Women, who was a great influence on her.

Scientific career

While a student in London, Newbigin began conducting research, based at the laboratories of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

. Her research was wide ranging and included the colouration of plants and animals, especially marine species. Her findings were published in journal articles, which she authored individually or with collaborators, most notably N.D. Paton. Later she studied and reported on the large collections of marine organisms collected by the ''Challenger'' expedition, and undertook further research, expanding her natural history knowledge at the Marine Biological Station Millport. She brought her work and the published literature on marine organisms' colouration together in ''Colour in Nature'' (1898) and ''Life by the Sea Shore'' (1901), which were praised as both scientifically rigorous and remarkably accessible. These early works of hers remained widely read for many years after their publication. After completing her degrees in London, Newbigin returned to Edinburgh, where she took up her mentor Thomson's position as lecturer of biology and zoology at the School of Medicine for Women. She was highly regarded by her students and those who saw her public lectures. She continued to lecture at various institutions, and later in her life devoted much of her time to writing geography textbooks. In 1902, she was employed as editor of the ''

'' and held the position for 32 years until her death in 1934. During her time as editor she helped shape geography as a new and developing academic discipline of geography. She used her platform amply write popular articles on various aspects of geography. As editor, and in various institutional roles, she mentored and encouraged an entire generation of British geographers. She contributed numerous academic works, and unusually even for her time, her geographical interests were wide-ranging, covering essentially every subfield of geography. Her most prominent work was ''Animal Geography'' (1913) and others on

animal geographies Animal geography is a subfield of the nature–society/human–environment branch of geography as well as a part of the larger, interdisciplinary umbrella of human–animal studies (HAS). Animal geography is defined as the study of "the complex enta ...

and other areas at the intersection of biology and geography. However she also wrote about political geography (e.g. ''Aftermath'', 1920, an acclaimed work on the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...

), travel (''Frequented Ways'', 1922), and cartography (''Ordnance Survey Maps'', 1913), among other topics. Among the recognition she received was the Livingstone Gold 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 ...

, the

Back Award The Back Award, also referred to as the Back Grant, was first given by the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 for "applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international pub ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(1921) and the presidency of the geographical section of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

Later life

At Chamberlain Road, Edinburgh she lived for many years with her sisters Hilda and Alice, as well as Maude once the latter retired. It was there that she died on 20 July 1934.

Selected bibliography

Among the published works of Marion Newbigin are: * Review in: ''

The Zoologist ''The Zoologist'' was a monthly natural history magazine established in 1843 by Edward Newman and published in London. Newman acted as editor-in-chief until his death in 1876, when he was succeeded, first by James Edmund Harting (1876–1896) ...

'', 4th series, vol. 3 (1899), issue 691 (January), p. 33/4. *''Introduction to physical geography'' (1912) *''An elementary geography of Scotland'' (1913). Oxford : The Clarendon Press *''Animal geography: the faunas of the natural regions of the globe'' (1913). Oxford : The Clarendon Press. *''Ordnance survey maps : their meaning and use ; with descriptions of typical sheets'' (1913). Edinburgh: W. & A.K. Johnston. *Geographical Aspects of Balkan problems in their relation to the great European war (1915). Oxford : The Clarendon Press. *''Aftermath'' (1920)

References

External links