Ülle Kukk (born 18 November 1937 in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and conservationist.

Education and career

She was born in

and graduated from the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

in 1960. 1960–1962 she continued to work in the university and also in the Institute of Experimental Biology of the Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR. From 1965 to 1975 she worked as a member of the research staff at the Tallinn Botanic Garden. From 1976 to 1996 she worked for the , and since 1996, she has worked for in the Institute of the Environmental Protection of the

Estonian University of Life Sciences The Estonian University of Life Sciences ( Estonian: ''Eesti Maaülikool'', EMÜ) is a public university located in Tartu, Estonia. Its roots trace back to 1802 when the Chair of Agriculture was founded in the University of Tartu. EMÜ is the fo ...

Research

Kukk's research has addressed Estonian protected plants and indigenous ornamental plants, and she has been engaged in the distribution of rare and protected plants, biology, monitoring and protection. She is one of the founders and a board member of the Estonian Orchid Protection Club (). Kukk is a member of the Berne Convention's Expert Group on flora, and she was a co-author of the "Estonian Red Book" established in 1998.

Personal

She was married to phycologist and conservationist Erich Kukk (1928–2017).

Selected publications

* (English version published by Light: New York) * *

References

20th-century Estonian botanists Estonian women botanists 1937 births Living people Scientists from Tartu University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the Estonian University of Life Sciences 21st-century Estonian botanists {{Estonia-botanist-stub