Paul Claude Silva (October 31, 1922 – June 12, 2014) was a phycologist, marine biologist, and

algal Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

taxonomist considered to be the world's leading expert in the

chlorophyte Chlorophyta or Prasinophyta is a taxon of green algae informally called chlorophytes. The name is used in two very different senses, so care is needed to determine the use by a particular author. In older classification systems, it refers to a ...

green algal genus '' Codium''. Silva was also an expert in botanical nomenclature and was an editor of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature's Eighth through Sixteenth International Botanical Congresses.

Biography

Silva completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Southern California, though his education was interrupted by World War II. He served in the US Navy on the USS Darby, participating in the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...

. He attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

for his master's degree studying under

Gilbert Morgan Smith Gilbert Morgan Smith (6 January 1885, Beloit, Wisconsin – 11 July 1959) was a botanist and phycologist, who worked primarily on the algae. He was best known for his books, particularly the ''Freshwater Algae of the United States'', the ''Marine ...

, and University of California, Berkeley for his Ph.D. Silva later worked as a Research Botanist and Curator of Algae at the UCB herbarium. While at UC Berkeley, Silva met his life partner

Lawrence Ray Heckard Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparato ...

Honours

He has been honoured in the naming of several taxa of algae. In 1999, '' Silvetia'' In the

Fucaceae The Fucaceae are a family of brown algae, containing six genera: *''Ascophyllum'' Stackhouse – one species *''Fucus'' L. – 15 species *'' Hesperophycus'' Setchell & Gardner – one species *'' Pelvetia'' Decne. & Thur. – one species *'' Pel ...

family) was published by botanists E.A.Serrão, T.O.Cho, S.M.Boo & Brawley. and then in 2002, '' Paulsilvella'' (in the Subfamily Lithophylloideae) was published by Woelk., Sartoni & Boddi.

References

External links

* http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/CPD/algal_research.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Paul American phycologists 1922 births 2014 deaths American marine biologists University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty American physiologists United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Portuguese descent