Celebrating 2025 International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Each year, the UN’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a chance to shine a light on the incredible contributions women and girls are making in science. It’s a day to not only celebrate their successes but also to keep pushing for more opportunities, equality, and inspiration for the future. In 2025, we’re seeing more than ever how women and girls are shaping the world of science—whether it’s in space, medicine, or technology. The strides they’re making show us that science thrives when everyone has a seat at the table.
This year, we are especially excited to bring you the story of Jessica Ulrika Meir, UBC Postdoctoral Fellow and NASA astronaut. Her journey is a powerful example of breaking barriers and reaching for the stars. Today, let’s take a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come and how much more is yet to come.
2019 official portrait of Jessica Meir in the type of spacesuit she wore for her spacewalks during the International Space Station Expedition 61 mission. (Image courtesy of NASA)
Jessica Ulrika Meir (1977- ): Ph.D. (2009), UBC Post Doctoral Fellow (2009-2012) comparative physiologist, former Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, NASA Astronaut.
Jessica U. Meir credits her love of space to a curiosity of the natural world instilled in her from her mother, and the spirit of exploration fueled by watching TV broadcasts of NASA Space Shuttle missions as a child. Attending a youth space camp at Purdue University at the age of 13 deepened her interest. Meir’s dream of going to space became a reality in 2019 when she was the Flight Engineer for 205 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). While aboard ISS, Meir conducted hundreds of scientific experiments. She was fortunate to participate in three spacewalks including the historic October 18, 2019 first all-female spacewalk with Christina Koch. As Meir was selected in 2020 as one of 18 astronauts for the Artemis Program, she could make history a 2nd time by walking on the Moon.
What is of interest in this snapshot is Meir’s research on how animals obtain sufficient oxygen to support high performance under extreme, oxygen limiting conditions first at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD) and then later at the University of British Columbia. For her Ph.D. (Scripps, 2009) Meir conducted research on the deep-diving physiology of Emperor Penguins at the Penguin Ranch, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica and on Northern Elephant Seals in California. At UBC, Meir moved from the depths to the heights studying the oxygen adaptations Bar-headed Geese use when they migrate from sea level over the Himalayas to the Mongolian Plateau. This species of goose have been tracked flying as high as 7,270 meters above sea level.
The following links detail some of the research projects Meir participated in en route to becoming an astronaut:
- Meir’s Elephant Seal diving physiology research.
- This paper published about her UBC windtunel experiments contains a film clip of Goose 32 flying inside the windtunnel.
For her goose studies, Meir had to imprint newly hatched goslings. Waterfoul species like geese have a strong imprinting instinct, latching on the first thing they see upon hatching as their mother. Meir held 12 Bar-headed Goose eggs as they hatched, and spent the following months fostering the imprinting instinct and habituating the goslings to the environment used for metabolic studies in UBC’s mechanical engineering Aerolab windtunnel. This included flight familiarization, having them chase her while riding a bicycle and soon after a motorized scooter.
At UBC, Meir’s Post doctoral research was noticed. In the period while she awaited the wind tunnel to become operational, an unsuspecting runner or motorist was likely to encounter Meir out on her scooter exercising one or more of her Bar-headed Geese around campus in the wee hours of the morning. After imprinting herself as the mother of 12 goslings, Meir had to ensure their flight muscles developed properly. This NASA video has footage of Meir’s oxygen transport cascade research on penguins, seals plus her beloved Bar-headed Geese.
Bar-headed Goose migrate from India across the Himalayas to the Mongolian plateau to nest and raise their young. Post nesting, there is a period when the geese shed their flight feathers and are earthbound until the new feathers regrow. Meir and other members of the Milsom lab used kayaks to herd Bar-headed Geese into an on-shore corral. Once the geese were penned, measurements where taken of select individuals and data-loggers implanted to enable the collection of heart rate, body temperature, wing beat frequency, ambient temperature and elevation data.
The Milsom lab using kayaks to herding geese into a corral on the shores of Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake, Mongolian. (Image taken by Bruce Moffat)
As per Dr. William K. Milsom, Meir’s Post Doctoral Supervisor:
“Jessica joined the lab bringing expertise and motivation at the perfect time as our studies were shifting emphasis from studies of geese at rest to studies of geese during strenuous exercise, all at simulated or real altitude.
Meir collected heart rate, body temperature and flight performance (wing beat frequency) data in Mongolia and metabolic rate data back on campus in the windtunnel, this time on flying birds. It was Meir’s research that revealed how the geese manage to fly in thin air.”
In Mongolia, Jessica made cardiorespiratory and metabolic measurements on birds exercising on a treadmill as well as assisted in instrumenting birds for data-logging during their annual migrations over the Himalayas.
According to Milsom, “our collaboration and friendship over the years has given rise to a great many stories. One of my favourites is:
While I was visiting with my good friend and colleague, Peter Frappel in Hobart Tasmania, Jessica called us from space as the International Space Station was passing overhead. Her final and most memorable remark was “I’ll see you next time I’m on earth!”
Dr. Jessica Meir with her post-doctoral Supervisor, Dr. William K. Milsom at the American Physiology Summit April 2024. (Photo credit: Angelina Fong)
Links:
Meir urging two of her Bar-headed Geese to fly in UBC’s mechanical engineering Aerolab windtunnel. (photo credit: Derek Tan)
In February 2025, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum unveiled a new shadowbox exhibit featuring feathers that travelled to the International Space Station with Jessica Meir: “I took these feathers to space with me to represent a pivotal chapter of my life (both professionally and personally) as a post-doc at UBC, and as an aid to facilitate scientific education and outreach. I also felt that it was symbolic to bring a piece of this iconic high-altitude species, the bar-headed goose, to an even greater height. (Jessica Meir, October 2024)”
Astronaut Jessica Meir took this image of her Bar-headed Goose feathers while orbiting the earth on the International Space Station.
The Cowan Tetrapod Collection has very few specimens from this ground-breaking Bar-headed Goose research. These Bar-headed Geese lived far from home and are officially classified as domestics. The UBC Bar-Headed Goose flock doubled in size the following year (2012) when Julia York, another member of the Milsom lab, imprinted a 2nd clutch of Bar-headed Goslings. When all the windtunnel flying and other physiological tests were over, the geese were distributed to local farmers and aviarists who were interested in keeping exotic geese as pets. Only if a goose died was it archived at the CTC.
The CTC avian database list five Bar-headed Goose specimens but we believe this represents less than 5 individuals. Several of the goose parts have been separated from each other. Is the wing that was prepared to show the bone spur the same individual as a CTC skeleton that is missing one set of wing bones? Another lone wing resides in a drawer on Aisle 18 of the BBM. Next to it is a map illustrating the long distance migrations of these amazing flyers from the Mongolian Plateau to Sri Lanka.
Specimen B023830 is a Bar-headed Goose wing stripped of all its small feathers to reveal how flight feathers are cemented or imbedded into wing bones. A bone spur located at the base of the ulna is circled in red. Spur-winged geese (Plectropterus gambensis) and Screamers (Anhima cornuta and Chauna sp.) have claw-like wing spurs that projects beyond their wing feathers. These duck relatives use their dangeriously sharp spurs in territorial and mating disputes. This bone remnant in Bar-headed Geese wings most likely indicates that once they or one of their ancestors had wings equipped for fighting! (photo credit: Ildiko Szabo)
Written and researched by Ildiko Szabo and Bill Milson.
Robert J. Bandoni
Professor Emeritus Robert (Bob) Joseph Bandoni passed away peacefully on May 18, 2009 at Mountain View Manor Extended Care Unit in Ladner, B.C. Bob was born November 9, 1926 in Weeks, Nevada to Giuseppe and Albina Bandoni, and graduated from high school in Hawthorne, Nevada. He earned degrees from the University of Nevada at Reno and the University of Iowa before joining the faculty of the Department of Botany at the University of British Columbia in 1958. Following his retirement from the Botany Department in 1989. Bob maintained an active presence both within the Botany Department and in the wider mycological community. He is survived by wife Alice-Ann (Webb) of 20 years, daughter Susan (Thomas) Muench of Geneseo, New York, stepsons Danai (Angela) Bisalputra and Rabin Bisalputra, and sisters Margaret McGhie of Nevada, Evelyn Smith of Illinois, and Mary (Frank) Fahrenkopf of Virginia. Predeceased by wife Inger (Van Nostrand) of 30 years, and siblings Estelle Perry, Grace Bandoni and Alfred Bandoni.
A celebration of Bob’s life will be scheduled for September. Condolences can be expressed on line at www.deltafuneral.ca. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Delta Hospital Foundation (5800 Mountain View Blvd., Delta, B.C., V4K 3V6, or www.deltahospital.com).
As a biologist, Bob was drawn to strange, diverse, and inconspicuous basidiomycete fungi. He was both a superb naturalist and an attentive scientist. By searching in places where no one else looked, he found many of the ‘duck-billed platypuses’ of the fungal world, fungi with astonishing and unexpected combinations of characters that helped reveal patterns of early fungal evolution (Bandoni and Oberwinkler 1981; Oberwinkler et al. 1990).
Bob specialized in the Tremellales, and Jack Maze recalled:
I first became aware of Bob while taking a course in Mycology at U. Wash. from Dan Stuntz. When we got to the Tremellales, Dan and one of his students, Hugh Klett, spent a great deal of time praising Bob Bandoni and the quality of his work. Thus when I arrived at UBC in 1968 I was quite excited to realize I’d get to meet Bob. I did and my first thought was, “Geez, he’s old.” Bob then was in his early 40s but I was a mere kid of 31, an age at which anyone over 35 was suspected of having ridden in on a glacier. It was always pleasant to encounter Bob. In the hall, he could extract the glumness from a typical day in academia with humor or just an irrevant comment, often in more colorful language than is commonly heard in the halls of academe. In meetings, Bob’s comments, while rare, were also a pleasure to hear, and were often useful. He usually kept his own council in meetings, aside from private remarks on various things, some of them germane to the meeting. But when necessary he had the ability to use a few pithy remarks to place a discussion in perspective, usually in the context of what was being discussed was a waste of time and, if the ideas presented were carried out, would be an even greater waste of time. These opinions were based on a combination of knowledge and experience, things at which Bob excelled.
–Jack Maze
Original website: https://botany.ubc.ca/people/robert-j-bandoni/
Wilf Schofield
Wilf Schofield (1927-2008)
We are deeply saddened by the passing of eminent bryologist and UBC Professor Emeritus of Botany Dr. Wilf Schofield on November 5th, 2008 at Vancouver. Many members of the UBC community and the botanical world, grieve this great loss.
For a biography of Wilf Schofield, written by Dr. René Belland of the University of Alberta, see the Botanical Electronic Newsletter (BEN).
The director of the UBC Herbarium at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, which houses Dr. Schofield’s extensive bryophyte collections, has written this memorial tribute to him:
The passing of UBC Professor Emeritus of Botany and World renowned Bryologist Wilf Schofield brings to a close a career of dedication to scholarship, professional service and mentorship that inspired countless students and colleagues, and will leave a lasting legacy for generations to come.
Wilfred Borden Schofield grew up in Nova Scotia and obtained a B.A. from Acadia University. Wilf started his professional life as a school teacher, before pursuing a lifelong passion, the study of bryophytes. His M.A. degree from Stanford University focused on the Canadian and Alaskan species of Hypnum. a genus that he continued to work on throughout his career. After completing a Ph. D. at Duke University in 1960, Wilf joined the Botany Department at UBC in 1961, where he spent the next 47 years.
Wilf was a gentleman scholar and a lovely man; his presence in the UBC Herbarium and in the halls of the Botany Department is greatly missed. Walking down the hall, Wilf had the ability to grab your attention with his impish grin – a sure sign that he had something to share: the latest update on a project, an anecdote from a grandchild, an interesting piece of correspondence, a comment on some departmental or world event. Wilf would shop year round for gifts of books for his loved ones, sharing his latest finds from the bookstore (where he sought out treasures in the remaindered sections, sometimes hiding an extra copy of a book in the stacks, so he could tell a friend where to find it. In small and big ways, Wilf showed us that the joys in his life came not just from work, but also from family and friends, literature and music. He reminded us that we are all people, in addition to being scientists.
Of course, for those who did not know Wilf personally, his scholarly work on bryophytes and other plants serves as his most easily measured legacy. Since 1948, Wilf published more than 100 scholarly works, focusing on bryophyte genera from Arnellia to Wijkia, including treatments of more than 20 genera for the Flora of North America. The foundation of his scholarly contributions was his intimate knowledge of bryophytes in the field, reflected in Beaty Museum’s collections. When he came to UBC, the bryophyte collection held about 3000 specimens; today it numbers over 260,000, contributed through his collections, exchanges, the work of his students and postdocs, and through the reputation he built for UBC’s collection. Fittingly, we will continue to process Wilf’s specimens for several more years.
When you visit the museum, and you walk through the numerous aisles of mosses, now you will know that this amazing collection exists in large part as the legacy of one just man. Remember too that he left not only the physical samples that he collected and studied, but also his teaching and mentorship left a network of researchers, many who make ongoing use of the collection, and that he inspired us to understand, conserve and appreciate bryophytes.
Original website: https://botany.ubc.ca/people/wilf-schofield/
Janet Ruth Stein Taylor
Obituary
Janet Ruth Stein Taylor born October 10th 1930 died January 16th 2016
Janet Ruth Stein Taylor was born on October 10th 1930 and raised in Denver CO. She graduated with a BA from University of Colorado (1951), an M.A. from Wellesley College, Wellesley (1953). Her thesis was A Comparative Study of Brachytic and Normal Zea mays. Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Rhoda Garrison. Her PhD research in Botany, from University of California, Berkeley (1957) was under the supervision of George F. Pappenfuss. Her dissertation was A Morphological and Physiological Study of Three Colonial Volvocales. In 1960 she received the “Dorbaker Award” for the best phycological paper published in North America in 1960.
Between 1957 and 1959, Janet worked as a Technician at Berkeley, and held visiting positions at the University of Minnesota Biological Station, and in the University Teachers Institute at Indiana University. She joined the UBC Department of Botany in 1959 as an Instructor, and after 5 years on the then traditional path for young women she became an Assistant Professor. Her teaching forte was the smallish class with a strong lab requirement. Many students noted her welcoming experience in 2nd year botany as a major influence in their choice of Botany as at least a minor in the BSc programmes. Throughout her career she was an effective mentor for undergraduate and graduate students as well as for newly appointed faculty members. She was probably the last of the ‘put-upon’ women in the Department, and she was certainly a valuable contributor to the fall of male patronage in both the Department and the Faculty of Science at UBC.
During her career (1959-1985), her research interests were in the Freshwater and Estuarine Algae (especially) of British Columbia. She did extensive fieldwork and identification and data base preparation for what is now part of the E-Flora of BC: Electronic Atlas of Plants of British Columbia www.eflora.bc.ca. She established the algal part of the UBC Microbial Culture Collection work that may well have led to her involvement as the Organizing Editor of the 4 volume Handbook of Phycological Methods; published by Cambridge University Press between 1973 and 1986.
Janet was an active member of the scientific societies that she joined, particularly of the Canadian Botanical Association/L’Association Botanique du Canada (Director; Editor of CBA/ABC Bulletin; Vice-President; President 1970-71) and the Phycological Society of America (Editor of the News Bulletin and Newsletter; Editor, Journal of Phycology, 1975-1980; Treasurer from 1982-1987; and President 1965).
Over the years Janet taught in the introductory Botany course, brought freshwater algae into the Department, became a stalwart colleague who lead the much respected advising group in the Department, and eventually served as Associate Dean of Science. She was one of the original authors of the textbook, edited by Bob Scagel, Evolutionary Survey of the Plant Kingdom, by Scagel, R.F., Bandoni, R.J., Rouse, G.E., Schofield, W.B., Stein, J.R. & Taylor, T.M. 1965 Wadsworth Press, Belmont, California.
Janet’s graduate students were a diverse and independent minded group. The first was Joseph Gerrath (MSc 1965; PhD 1965) who studied the ecology, culture and taxonomy of Desmids. He married Janet’s undergraduate student/technician, Jean Drewry, and they moved to the University of Guelph, where Joe pursued an academic career until retirement. Jean did different technical and teaching jobs in Botany at Guelph and 18 years later she extended her Honours degree in freshwater phycology to a career in higher plant morphology, completed a PhD, and became a professor at the University of Northern Iowa.
Dean Blinn (PhD 1969) worked on saline environments and became a career-long faculty member at Northern Arizona University. John Wehr moved to Durham University in the UK for a PhD (1982) and then onto Fordham University, NY, where he is a Professor and Director of the Calder Ecology Center. John, and Robert Sheath, a former visitor with Kay Cole, edited a book on Freshwater Algae of North America: Ecology and Classification that was published in 2003.
Martin Pomeroy, Richard Nordin, Helene Contant and Robert Prange all worked in Government. A post-doctoral husband-wife team, Davis and Diane Findley, from the U S Corps of Engineers, Mobile, AL, contributed much to our knowledge of the ecology of Skaha Lake in the BC Okanagan region during their work with Janet (1969-1971).
Carol-Ann Borden (MSc 1969) did much of the early work on the culture collection, Gary Butler (MSc 1970), Marion McCauley (MSc 1974) and Bob Prange made strong contributions and went along their chosen paths. Robert Prange (MSc 1976) did a PhD and was last heard of in Kentville, Nova Scotia working on apples!
Janet married Roy Taylor, then Director of the UBC Botanical Garden and moved with Roy to the Chicago Garden in 1985, and then to the Rancho Santa Ana Garden in Claremont CA. They retired to Nanaimo where both became involved in matters botanical and horticultural and were very active volunteers.
Janet was predeceased by Roy in 2013.
Janet requested no ceremony and only this ‘scientific’ obituary.
I have prepared a more complete biographical commentary in the History of 100 years of the UBC Botany Department, which should be available in a few months through the Botany Department’s web site.
Original website: https://botany.ubc.ca/people/janet-ruth-stein-taylor/
R. F. Scagel
Robert Francis Scagel (1921–2018)
Obituary by Louis Druehl1, Bamfield, BC, Canada, January 2019
Robert Francis Scagel’s (1921-2018) career’s journey began in Ontario where he fine-honed his business skills at a business college. In time he moved to British Columbia and a variety of business-related jobs, including the Boeing Manufacturing plant in Richmond, BC, where Hurricane fighter aircraft were made. A mystic transition found him at the University of British Columbia (A.B. 1947, M.A. 1948) and at Phykos’ Door. Next, U.C. Berkeley and a Ph.D. under Associate Professor George Frederik Papenfuss’s tutelage in 1952.
A joint Oceanography/Botany appointment brought him back to UBC and his second career tract: Academic. The story goes that Dr. Papenfuss assigned the first efforts to study the algal macroflora of the eastern Pacific Coast to himself (California north to the Canada-US border), and north of the 49th parallel to Scagel. In this role he synthesized seaweed literature relevant to the local flora, produced a world class herbarium, based on ten years of intense collecting from Attu, Alaska to Terra del Fuego, Chile, leap-frogging Papenfuss’s domain, and supported numerous graduate students, postdocs, and research associates.
Dr. Scagel developed a ‘Synthetic Approach’ to understanding seaweed distributions, relating known seaweed distributions to coastal oceanographic conditions. This approach resulted in predicting kelp refugia in tropical deep-waters (Graham, et al. 2007. PNAS 104: 16576-16580). I believe this research was important to his being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, Canada.
Outside of the lab, he guided the Botany Department as Head from 1972-1985. During this period there were several faculty members with algal interests: (J. Stein – freshwater, K. Cole – cytogenetics, B. Tregunna – physiology, T. Bisalputra – ultrastructure, R. de Wreede – ecology, R. Foreman – ecology, cultivation, F. J. R. Taylor – phytoplankton, P. J. Harrison – phytoplankton/seaweed physiology, P. G. Harrison – eelgrass ecology, Luis Oliveira – ultrastructure, Michael Hawkes – red algal systematics, life histories). Wrote David Garbary of this assemblage, “I have always looked back to my years at UBC with pride. In the 70s and early 80s Bob made that institution a world centre for phycology, and I am humbled to have been a part of that.” Dr. Scagel was editor2 of Phycologia, 1969-1971, and on the organizing committee for the 1st Phycological Congress, 1982.
Following his retirement in 1986, he slipped into his third career, visual artist (https://ginkgostudio.weebly.com/) where he quickly established his exploratory artistic excellence. During his last years, he lived with his son, Rob. His vision, hearing and mobility were ravaged, but his mind remained sharp.
My Phykos Door was opened when Professor Scagel discovered me, pouting, on WestBeach, WhidbeyI., WA., contemplating a career in the gas industry (I would walk gas lines looking for sick plants). He was putting seaweeds in a bucket and I asked him, “What are you doing?” He replied, “Collecting seaweeds.” And I said, “Oh, and who are you?” “Bob Scagel,” he replied. After a few more inane exchanges, Scagel said, “Would like to study at UBC?” Thank you, Bob, thank you for everything. R.I.P.
1Dr. Druehl was a Ph.D. student with Prof. Scagel; completing his thesis, ‘On the taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the brown algal genus Laminaria in the northeast Pacific’, in 1965.
2Dr. Scagel was also Editor of Syesis (published by the BC ProvincialMuseum) from 1968–1975 (Vols. 1–8).
Further information on Prof. Scagel’s career can be found in Taylor (2017) A History of the University of British Columbia Botany Department 1908-2015.
Images and selected publications (courtesy of Mike Hawkes).
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Figs. 1, 2 & 3. The canopy-forming kelps Macrocystis (1 & 2) and Nereocystis (3).
In a paper published just after he completed his B.A. degree at UBC, Scagel (1947) reported on seaweeds, especially ‘Giant kelp’ (Macrocystis pyrifera) and ‘Bull kelp’ (Nereocystis luetkeana), in the vicinity of HardyBay, on the NE coast of Vancouver I. This publication was based on field work carried out by Scagel at a station on DeerIsland from July to September 1947. The report focused on the growth, effect of harvesting, and conservation of these important seaweeds.
Figure 4.
Fig. 4. Whidbeyella cartilaginea distribution as of 2019.
This extremely rare red seaweed was first described by Setchell and Gardner (1903) from a single drift specimen on the west coast of Whidbey I., WA. Scagel (1962) published the first account of the reproductive anatomy of the monotypic genus Whidbeyella, based on a collection from near Smith I., WA. Scagel also reported on the largest known specimen of Whidbeyella (lower left corner of Fig. 4) collected by Mike Neushul at Hein Bank, WA and photographed by Shirley Sparling while at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, San Juan I.
Figure 5.
Fig. 5. Scagel (1971) reported the first occurrence of the brown alga, Dictyota binghamiae, in British Columbia. This widespread genus is usually found in warm temperate to tropical waters.
Figure 6.
Fig. 6. Bob Scagel and students collecting seaweeds at Kiix-in1 (pronounced KEE-shun in the Ohiat language), Barkley Sound, Vancouver I., BC, 10 May 1974. Kiix-in was once the capital community or main village of the Huu-ay-aht group of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation. Declared a National Historic Site in 1999, it is close to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Scagel (1973) published the first synopsis of benthic marine plants in the vicinity of Bamfield.
Figure 7.
Fig. 7. Bob Scagel and Jean Feldmann (France) collecting seaweeds at Point No Point, near Sooke on the SW coast of Vancouver Island in 1959.
In an email (9 Dec. 2002), Scagel told the story of this field trip to some former students and colleagues (Widdowson, Druehl, Hawkes, Gabrielson, and Lindstrom). It is worth quoting here:
Figure 8.
Fig. 8. Tom Widdowson (then doing his Ph.D. with Scagel), Y. Yamada, Ron Taylor (back), George ? (front), H. Blackler, and J. Feldmann at Botanical Beach, 1959. Continuing Scagel’s story of this field trip (email 9 Dec. 2002).
Figure 9.
Fig. 9. Four distinguished phycologists. Sapporo, Japan, Aug. 1971. Scagel (email 9 Dec. 2002) also provided the story for this photo. “This picture was taken by Jun Tokida during the 7th International Seaweed Symposium in Sapporo. I had met Tokida and Yamada when I visited Sapporo in 1957. Tokida, whose English was quite good, came from Hakodate to Sapporo to meet me. When he met me at the airport he was holding a big sign that said “welcome Dr. Scagel”. He had borrowed the chauffeur and limousine of the President of Hokkaido University. The following day they took me on a field trip to the marine station at Oshoro (I think) in the shadow of Mt. Yendo – the first time I ever went on a field trip in a chauffeured Cadillac! The mountain nearby was apparently named after Yendo after his return from the University of Chicago and he was allegedly responsible for introducing skiing to Hokkaido on his return to Japan. In 1971 Yamada was in failing health and was living with his son in Sapporo. Tokida took the four of us (in the photograph) by taxi to visit Yamada. Those in the picture are left to right: seated Jean Feldmann and Y. Yamada; standing RFS and G. F. Papenfuss.
Figure 10.
Fig. 10. The first five Editors of the journal Phycologia: Kay Cole, Robin South, Bill Woelkerling, Robert Scagel, and Paul Silva pose for a photo during the 13th International Seaweed Symposium held at UBC, Vancouver, Aug. 1989.
Figure 11.
Fig. 11. Bob Scagel and Olivia Lee at the UBC Herbarium 100th Anniversary Celebration, 29 Feb. 2016.
***************************************************************
1Formerly known as Execution Rock
Photo Editing and Captions:
Michael W. Hawkes
Photo Credits:
Figs. 1-6 and the portrait of RF Scagel on the 1st page: Michael W. Hawkes.
Figs. 7-10. Photos courtesy of RF Scagel. Fig. 7 Photographer unknown. Fig. 8 photo by RF Scagel, Fig. 9 photo by Jun Tokida, Fig. 10 Photographer unknown,
Fig. 11. UBC photographer.
Historical Video (1957):
A 1957 educational TV series called ‘The Living Sea’ with Dr. Ian McTaggart-Cowan (former Head of Zoology Dept., UBC). Dr. Robert F. Scagel makes a guest appearance in this 1/2 hr episode:
https://exhibits.library.uvic.ca/uploads/spotlight/resources/videoupload/url/3424/3422.mp4
Thank you to Dr. Scagel’s son, Rob, for bringing this video to my attention (MW Hawkes).
Selected Early Publications
Scagel, R. F. 1947. An investigation of marine plants near HardyBay, B. C. Provincial Department of Fisheries, Victoria. No. 1. 70 pp. 26 figs.
Scagel, R. F. 1957. An annotated list of the marine algae of British Columbia and northern Washington. National Museum of Canada, Bulletin 150: 1‑289. 1 fig.
Scagel, R. F. 1961. The distribution of certain benthonic algae in Queen Charlotte Strait, British Columbia, in relation to some environmental factors. Pacific Science 15: 494‑539. 51 figs.
Scagel, R. F. 1962. A morphological study of the red alga Whidbeyella cartilaginea Setchell et Gardner. Canadian Journal of Botany 40: 1217‑1222. 14 figs.
Scagel, R. F. 1963. Distribution of attached marine algae in relation to oceanographic conditions in the northeast Pacific. Pp. 37‑50. 11 figs. In Dunbar, M. J. (ed.), Marine distributions. University of Toronto Press.
Scagel, R. F. 1964. Some problems in algal distributions in the North Pacific. Proceedings of the International Seaweed Symposium 4: 259‑264.
Scagel, R. F. 1966a. Marine algae of British Columbia and northern Washington. Part 1. Chlorophyceae. National Museum of Canada, Bulletin 207: 1‑257. 49 pls.
Scagel, R. F. 1966b. The Phaeophyceae in perspective. Oceanography and Marine Biology Annual Reviews 4: 123‑194. 1 fig.
Scagel, R. F. 1967. Guide to common seaweeds of British Columbia. British ColumbiaProvincialMuseum, Handbook No. 27, 330 pp. 141 figs.
Scagel, R. F. 1971 [1972]. The brown alga Dictyota binghamiae J. Ag. from British Columbia and northern Washington. Syesis 4: 261. 1 fig.
Scagel, R. F. 1973. Marine benthic plants in the vicinity of Bamfield, Barkley Sound, British Columbia. Syesis 6: 127‑145. 1 fig.
Scagel, R. F., R. J. Bandoni, J. R. Maze, G. E. Rouse, W. B. Schofield, & J. R. Stein. 1982. Nonvascular plants: an evolutionary survey. Wadsworth Publishing Co., Belmont, California.
Scagel, R. F., R. J. Bandoni, J. R. Maze, G. E. Rouse, W. B. Schofield, & J. R. Stein. 1984. Plants: an evolutionary survey. Wadsworth Publishing Co., Belmont, California.
Original website: https://botany.ubc.ca/people/r-f-scagel/
Vladimir Krajina
Vladimir Josef Krajina was born at Slavonice, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic) on 13th April 1905. He was educated at Charles University, Prague, where he graduated with the earned degree of D.Sc. cum laude in 1927. In World War II, he was a leader of the Czech underground resistance for which he received both military and civilian honours. “The hero of the democratic underground was Professor Vladimir Krajina,” wrote Korbel (1959, p. 55). After the war, he returned to Charles University as a professor. He was elected to the Czech parliament in 1945 and served as General Secretary of the largest democratic Socialist Party when the government was led by Jan Masaryk. When the communist government took over in 1948, he was forced to seek safety abroad. Vladimir was a great fighter for liberty. He put his life on the line for democratic freedom, and had the dubious distinction of being sentenced to death by both the Nazis and the Communists. Vladimir and Maria opened their home to refugees from Czechoslovakia and their hospitality was legendary. His name was an internationally known by-word for Czechs all around the world.
He immigrated to Canada in 1949 and joined the UBC Botany Department in 1949 where he taught plant ecology for 24 years. His knowledge of plants, their distribution and ecology was encyclopedic, his field trips were hectic, and his slide shows were legendary. He supervised many Ph.D. students, many of whom went on to leading positions in ecology. His major contributions to Canadian botany were to develop the ecologically-based system of vegetation classification (Biogeoclimatic Zones) now widely adapted and used as the basis for forest management in BC and Alberta. He used his political experience and acumen in the successful campaign that led the establishment of more than 100 ecological reserves in British Columbia, a feat unmatched anywhere in the world. This system has been studied and adopted in several parts of the world, including Western Australia.
He was honoured during his lifetime with honorary degrees including the D.Sc. honoris causa from UBC, and was invested into the Order of Canada in 1981. Vladimir died on June 1st 1993. The Department of Botany continues to honour him with the annual Vladimir J. Krajina Memorial Lecture.
Several film documentaries and works provide insights into his life and attainments. Many of them are in Czech including Krajina’s Vyoská hra (“High Game”) published by Nakladatelstvi VTA, Prague, 1994. Some selected works in English are given below.
Canadian Journal of Botany 1988, Volume 66 Number 12: 2603- 2692 ─ Community Organization and Ecosystem Conservation: A Contemporary Synthesis, A Symposium held in honour of Professor Vladimir J. Krajina’s 80th Birthday. With Introduction by M. K. Wali and contributions by M. K. Wali; D. Mueller-Dombois; L. Orloci; H. H. Shugart, G. B. Bonan, and E. B. Rastetter; P. J. Courtin, K. Klinka, M. C. Feller, J. P. Demaerschalk; J. P. Kimmins; W. B. Schofield; R. L. Burgess; and J. Major.
Drabek, J. 2012, Vladimir Krajina: World War II Hero and Ecology Pioneer, Ronsdale Press, Vancouver Press, BC.
Jenik, J. 1992, Professor Vladimir J. Krajina─Honorary Member of the Czechoslovak Botanical Society, Preslia 64: 291-311.
Korbel, J. 1959. The Communist Subversion of Czechoslovakia, 1938-1948, Princeton University Press, Princetion, NJ.
Wali, M. K. 1994. Resolution of Respect─Vladimir J. Krajina 1905-1993: A Tribute, Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America Volume 75, Number 4, 194-195.
Original website: https://botany.ubc.ca/people/vladimir-krajina/
John Davidson
John Davidson (1878 – 1970). University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, John Davidson Lantern Slide 251
John Davidson differed from most UBC faculty in that he never held any formal university degrees. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, to a working-class family. Without money for tuition, Davidson found a back door to higher education by becoming a boy attendant in the botany department at the University of Aberdeen. Davidson assisted in museum and laboratory research work, eventually taking charge of the museum in 1897. With European universities professionalizing, he could not rise any further in the academic ranks and he emigrated to Vancouver in 1911. Minister of Education Henry Esson Young gave him the job of Provincial Botanist the next year, and in preparation for the new university, one of Davidson’s duties was to assemble an herbarium and botanical garden. After some controversy because of his lack of formal qualifications, in 1916 Davidson became UBC’s “demonstrator in charge of the herbarium and botanical garden.” In addition to his academic duties, “Botany John” Davidson distinguished himself as a field naturalist, a popular promoter of science and nature study, and a tireless ambassador for the University. By the time that he retired as an associate professor in 1948, Davidson had also created the Vancouver Natural History Society. The UBC Botanical Garden’s journal, Davidsonia, now bears his name.
By: David Brownstein.
Original website: https://botany.ubc.ca/people/john-davidson/
Kathleen Cole
By Dr. Robert Scagel
Kay Cole spent her early years as a child in the small community of Wells (near Barkerville), later moving with her family to a home in the upper levels of West Vancouver. I first new Kay as a graduate student in the Department of Biology and Botany at U.B.C. We were both students on honour programmes in the Department – Kay in Biology and I in Botany. Our supervisor was Andrew Hutchinson, Head of the Department. As Honours students we were provided with office/study space in the then Applied Science Building on the West Mall. We had adjoining desks. At that time, to get to U.B.C. from West Vancouver, she would take a bus from the upper levels to the waterfront at Ambleside where she would take a ferry under the Lions Gate Bridge to the foot of Columbia St. in Vancouver. She would then take a streetcar from Hastings St. to Blanca St. where she would transfer to a bus to the U.B.C. Campus. We both completed B.A. degrees, graduating in 1947 and M.A. degrees in 1948. This was when the Faculty was Arts & Science, before the establishment of the Faculty of Science and the awarding of the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees. Kay then left for Smith College, where she completed her Ph.D. in genetics under the supervision of Albert F. Blakeslee. Blakeslee was a world authority on the genetics of Datura and it was on this plant that Kay did her Ph.D. research. I left for the University of California (Berkley) where I completed the Ph.D. in marine phycology under the supervion of G.F. Papenfuss.
During her years at U.B.C., Kay was active in the Music Society. She had a fine contralto singing voice and frequently performed in concerts and in Vancouver on radio during her years as a student at U.B.C.
Kay was appointed Lecturer and I was appointed Assistanat Professor in the Department of Biology and Botany at U.B.C. in 1952. Both us continued on the staff in the Department until retirement.
In the early years of our appointments at U.B.C. she continued her research in genetics, however on Medicago(alfalfa) . For several years in the summers in the 1950’s I taught a course in marine phycology at the Friday Harbor Marine Laboratory of the University of Washington. Kay was looking for a area of genetics that was new and challenging instead of the vascular plants she had been working with. I suggested to her that the genetics/cytology on marine algae was a new and challenging area she might like to explore. She spent one summer at Friday Harbor in the late 1950’s experimenting with her cytological techniques on marine algae. From then on, she and her graduate students pursued their research on the cytology (eventually the ultrastructure) of marine algae. She soon became a world-renewed researcher in the field of the cytology of marine algae. (I can see her yet at Friday Harbor, where her thumbs were usually stained purple from doing the fuchsin squash technique!).
Original website: https://botany.ubc.ca/people/kathleen-cole/