Melva Philipson
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Melva Noeline Philipson (née Crozier; 22 December 1925 – 29 April 2015) was a New Zealand botanist.


Biography

Philipson was born Melva Noeline Crozier in Palmerston North on 22 December 1925, the daughter of Gladys Crozier (née Eberhard) and Guy Neville Crozier. She was educated in Christchurch, at St Albans Primary School,
Christchurch Girls' High School Christchurch Girls' High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls-only secondary school in the country, after Otago Girls' High School. History Christchurch Girls' High School was established i ...
and
Avonside Girls' High School Avonside Girls' High School is a large urban high school in Christchurch, New Zealand, with more than 1,000 girls from Year 9 to Year 13. It was formerly in the suburb of Avonside but moved in 2019, along with Shirley Boys' High School, to the fo ...
. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Canterbury University College (now the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...
) in 1948. She initially worked for the Crop Research Division of 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 ...
in Washdyke, South Canterbury, carrying out research into linen flax, and later established a research laboratory at Fletcher Holdings' linseed factory in Ashburton. When the plant closed 18 months later, Crozier moved to Wellington where she worked for the Department of Agriculture's Dairy Division testing milk powder and cheese for export. Crozier decided to resume her studies, specialising in microbiology, and enrolled to study a master's degree in science at Lincoln Agricultural College (now Lincoln University). She graduated in 1953; her thesis was entitled ''Physiological studies on some bacteria isolated from clover roots''. She remained in the Department of Microbiology until 1955 to carry out research on bacteria responsible for producing brightly coloured stains in wool fleeces. She also isolated an actinomycete from fleeces which in culture was able to cause degeneration of both wool fibre and human hair. In 1954, Crozier married
William Raymond Philipson William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, who was professor of botany at the University of Canterbury from 1954 to 1976. From 1955 to 1962, Melva Philipson was a full-time mother and spent her spare time studying the genus
Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...
; the gardens at Ilam, which the University of Canterbury had purchased for a new campus, had previously belonged to
Edgar Stead Edgar Fraser Stead (22 October 1881 – 7 February 1949) was a New Zealand ornithologist, engineer, horticulturist and marksman. He was born in Christchurch and educated there at Christ's College and Wanganui Collegiate School. He then studied ...
, a rhododendron hybridist, and were filled with a wide range of species which Philipson began to study. In 1962, she was appointed an assistant to
Eric Godley Eric John Godley (10 May 1919 – 27 June 2010) OBE, FRSNZ, Hon FLS, Hon DSc (Cantuar.), AHRNZIH was a New Zealand botanist and academic biographer. He is best known for his long-running series of in the popular magazine ''New Zealand Gardene ...
at the Botany Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. She began to establish a herbarium of Rhododendron species, and in 1968 she visited the herbarium at the
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...
, to acquire additional samples. In 1974, Philipson began to work on a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
at the University of Canterbury, supervised by Brian Fineran, which she completed in 1977; her thesis, which involved the use of an electron microscope, was on embryology and ultrastructure. After her retirement in 1990, Philipson returned to the establishment of the Rhododendron herbarium, and her husband Bill Philipson joined her in studying the genus. Together, the couple produced three major joint publications and their research became the largest embryological survey of a plant genus. They lived in Greytown until Bill Philipson's death in 1997. In 2003, Philipson moved to
Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...
to be near her daughter, taking most of her Rhododendron collection with her. She died on 29 April 2015.


References


External links


Philipson, Melva Noeline, 1925-2015
from the
National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philipson, Melva 1925 births 2015 deaths 20th-century New Zealand botanists University of Canterbury alumni Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni People educated at Christchurch Girls' High School People educated at Avonside Girls' High School People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand) 20th-century New Zealand women scientists