Peter Wardle (14 February 1931 – 6 December 2008) was a New Zealand botanist.

Academic career

Raised largely in

Lake Hāwea (town) Lake Hāwea is a small settlement at the southern end of a lake, also named Lake Hāwea, in New Zealand's South Island. It is 18 kilometres to the northeast of Wānaka. Demographics Lake Hawea covers and had an estimated population of as of ...

in Central Otago, Wardle attended

Waitaki Boys' High School Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students. The ...

and then 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 ...

, where he obtained an MSc with first class honours on the vegetation and climate of the Dunedin region, graduating in 1954. He won a scholarship to

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

and completed a PhD under Alexander Stuart Watt. He returned to New Zealand to work at the Forest Service before being recruited by Eric Godley for the Botany 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 ...

. His scientific strength remained the botany and ecology of the lower South Island, where he had been raised. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in 1977 and awarded the society's

Hector Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different science ...

in 1990. In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Wardle was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to plant ecology. He died on 6 December 2008 while crossing the

Waimakariri River The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. ...

Selected works

* ''Vegetation of New Zealand'' * ''Scenic reserves of South Westland: a botanical survey of scenic and allied reserves of South Westland'' (1980) * ''Plants and landscape in Westland National Park'' (1979)

References

External links

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1931 births 2008 deaths 20th-century New Zealand botanists People from Otago People educated at Waitaki Boys' High School University of Otago alumni New Zealand ecologists Alumni of the University of Cambridge People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand) Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand 21st-century New Zealand botanists {{NewZealand-scientist-stub