Name Helen Gilkey | ||
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Died 1972, Corvallis, Oregon, United States Books Handbook of northwest, Winter twigs, Handbook of northwest, Aquatic Plants of the Pacifi, Gilkey's Weeds of the Pacifi | ||
Helen Margaret Gilkey (1886–1972) was a pioneering mycologist and botanist. She was born in Montesano, Washington but moved to Corvallis, Oregon with her family in 1903 where she attended Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). Gilkey received both a bachelor's and a master's degree for her studies in botany (including mycology) and botanical illustration. She continued her studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and in 1915 she became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in botany there. Gilkey's doctoral dissertation focused on the taxonomy of North American truffles (order Tuberales) and her published dissertation remains an important contribution to the study of truffle taxonomy in North America. After completing her doctoral studies, Gilkey secured a position as the herbarium curator at the Oregon Agricultural College in 1918. Gilkey also conducted research on vascular plants, but she was best known for her extensive studies on truffles. Gilkey described many species of truffles from the United States as well as a few from Argentina and Australia. Her 1939 monograph is the most comprehensive work on Tuberales of North America. In 2006, the truffle genus Gilkeya was named in Gilkey's honor.
