Isabel Clifton Cookson
Encyclopedia
Isabel Clifton Cookson was an Australian botanist who specialised in palaeobotany and palynology
.
Cookson was born at Hawthorn
, Victoria
, and attended the Methodist Ladies' College
at Kew
where she gained honours in anatomy, physiology and botany in the senior public examination. She went on to study for her BSc at the University of Melbourne
and graduated in 1916 with majors in botany and zoology. When she completed her studies she became a demonstrator at the university, and between 1916 and 1917 received a government research scholarship and the MacBain research scholarship in biology, amongst other awards to study the flora of the Northern Territory
. She contributed illustrations for the 1917 book The Flora of the Northern Territory by Alfred J. Ewart and O. B. Davies.
She continued working at the University of Melbourne, until she visited the Imperial College of Science and Technology between 1925 and 1926, and, on a return visit in the University of Manchester
between 1926 and 1927. At Manchester she began a long and productive academic relationship with W. H. Lang
, Lang named the genus Cooksonia
in her honour. Form 1929 her research focussed on palaeobotany, she wrote several papers on fossil plants including early vascular plants from the Silurian
and Early Devonian which helped to shape theories of early land-plant evolution. She also studied more resent coal forming deposits. Her work on the early terrestrial fossil plants of Victoria and field work showing associated graptolites and plants led to her research thesis and to a D.Sc. from the University of Melbourne in 1932.
In 1930 she was appointed lecturer in botany at the University of Melbourne. From the 1940s she worked on fossil spores, pollen and phytoplankton and their relationship with palaeogeography and championed the usefulness of plant microfossils for oil exploration. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research established in 1949 a pollen research unit under her leadership. In 1952 she was appointed a research fellow in botany, and retired in 1959. She was active in her retirement, 30 of her 86 scientific papers were published after 1959.
Since 1976 the Botanical Society of America
has awarded the Isabel Cookson Award to the best paper on palaeobotany presented at their annual meeting at the bequest
of Cookson. Cookson Place in the Canberra suburb of Banks
is also named in her honour.
Palynology
Palynology is the science that studies contemporary and fossil palynomorphs, including pollen, spores, orbicules, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, chitinozoans and scolecodonts, together with particulate organic matter and kerogen found in sedimentary rocks and sediments...
.
Cookson was born at Hawthorn
Hawthorn, Victoria
Hawthorn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, and attended the Methodist Ladies' College
Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
Methodist Ladies' College is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
at Kew
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
where she gained honours in anatomy, physiology and botany in the senior public examination. She went on to study for her BSc at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and graduated in 1916 with majors in botany and zoology. When she completed her studies she became a demonstrator at the university, and between 1916 and 1917 received a government research scholarship and the MacBain research scholarship in biology, amongst other awards to study the flora of the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. She contributed illustrations for the 1917 book The Flora of the Northern Territory by Alfred J. Ewart and O. B. Davies.
She continued working at the University of Melbourne, until she visited the Imperial College of Science and Technology between 1925 and 1926, and, on a return visit in the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
between 1926 and 1927. At Manchester she began a long and productive academic relationship with W. H. Lang
William Henry Lang
William Henry Lang FRS was a British botanist. The son of Thomas Lang, a medical practitioner, Lang was educated at Dennistoun public school in Glasgow before being accepted into the University of Glasgow, where he graduated with a Bsc in botany and zoology in 1894...
, Lang named the genus Cooksonia
Cooksonia
Cooksonia is an extinct grouping of primitive land plants. The earliest Cooksonia date from the middle of the Silurian ; the group continues to be an important component of the flora until the Early Devonian, a total time span of...
in her honour. Form 1929 her research focussed on palaeobotany, she wrote several papers on fossil plants including early vascular plants from the Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
and Early Devonian which helped to shape theories of early land-plant evolution. She also studied more resent coal forming deposits. Her work on the early terrestrial fossil plants of Victoria and field work showing associated graptolites and plants led to her research thesis and to a D.Sc. from the University of Melbourne in 1932.
In 1930 she was appointed lecturer in botany at the University of Melbourne. From the 1940s she worked on fossil spores, pollen and phytoplankton and their relationship with palaeogeography and championed the usefulness of plant microfossils for oil exploration. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research established in 1949 a pollen research unit under her leadership. In 1952 she was appointed a research fellow in botany, and retired in 1959. She was active in her retirement, 30 of her 86 scientific papers were published after 1959.
Since 1976 the Botanical Society of America
Botanical Society of America
The Botanical Society of America represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world...
has awarded the Isabel Cookson Award to the best paper on palaeobotany presented at their annual meeting at the bequest
Bequest
A bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...
of Cookson. Cookson Place in the Canberra suburb of Banks
Banks, Australian Capital Territory
Banks is a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district of Tuggeranong. It is the most southerly suburb of Canberra. The suburb is named after Sir Joseph Banks , the botanist who accompanied Captain James Cook to the Pacific Ocean on which he entered Botany Bay in 1770. The suburb was gazetted on 12...
is also named in her honour.