Peter Bannister (2 May 1939 – 26 February 2008) was an English-born New Zealand botanist and academic.

Academic career

Peter Bannister completed a BSc in botany in 1960 at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

and a PhD in 1963 at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

. Bannister was a lecturer at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and senior lecturer

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

, before being appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Botany at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

in 1979, succeeding Professor Geoff Baylis, who had retired the previous year. Bannister was Head of Department until 2002, and he was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor upon his retirement in 2005. Bannister's PhD was in the relatively new field of physiological ecology, and was entitled "The water relations of certain heath plants with reference to their ecological amplitude". Bannister researched plant water relations, resistance to drought and heat, mineral nutrition and carbohydrate economy of heath plants. He published an introductory text book on physiological plant ecology in 1976. Over his research career, Bannister published over 110 scholarly papers, including significant works on mistletoes, frost tolerance of New Zealand plants, alpine plants and lichens. Bannister was awarded the "Outstanding Plant Physiologist" award in 2003 in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the study of plant biology by the New Zealand Society of Plant Physiologists (now the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists). Peter Bannister memorial plaque 1

Bannister was patron of the Botanical Society of Otago from 2004 until his death. The Jack Bannister Memorial Bike Shed, at the Department Botany, University of Otago was partly funded by Bannister and is named in honour of Bannister's father Jack, a keen cyclist. The Bannister Laboratory in the Department of Botany Research Building is named in his honour. Bannister is commemorated by a plaque and kōwhai (''

Sophora microphylla ''Sophora microphylla'', common name kōwhai, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to New Zealand. Growing to tall and broad, it is an evergreen shrub or small tree. Each leaf is long with up to 40 pairs of shiny oval ...

'') at the Department of Botany,

, planted on 26 February 2009, the first anniversary of his death. The Peter Bannister Student Field Grant Award was first awarded in 2014 by the Botanical Society of Otago to assist postgraduate students with fieldwork.

Personal life

Bannister was a talented botanical and life artist and was an artist member of the Dunedin Art Society. Bannister was a judge of the

Audrey Eagle Audrey Lily Eagle (née Brodey; 30 October 1925 – 27 November 2022) was a New Zealand botanical illustrator, whose work mainly focused on New Zealand's distinctive trees and shrubs. As the author and illustrator of the two volume ''Eagle's ...

Botanical Drawing Competition run by the Botanical Society of Otago. Bannister's son

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

is a Scottish-born New Zealand musician, journalist and academic. Bannister's second wife is

paleobotanist Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...

Jennifer M Bannister.

Selected publications

* Bannister P 2013. Godley review: A touch of frost? Cold hardiness of plants in the southern hemisphere. ''New Zealand Journal of Botany'' 45, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/00288250709509700

External links

* Photograph of Peter Bannister officially opening the Jack Bannister Memorial Bike Shed (Otago University Research Heritage

(additional image) * Commemorative Register, Peter Bannister memorial plaque and kōwha

(additional image)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannister, Peter New Zealand botanists New Zealand academics 1939 births 2008 deaths