Name Sophie Ducker | ||
Sophie Charlotte Ducker (9 April 1909 – 20 May 2004) was a German-born Australian botanist. She was awarded the Mueller Medal in 1996.
Contents
Early life and education
She was born Sophie Charlotte von Klemperer in Dresden. She studied at the Cheltenham Ladies' College in England. She began the study of botany at the University of Geneva and the University of Stuttgart. She stopped her studies in 1931 when she married Johann Friedrich Ducker. The family left Germany at the outbreak of hostilities and moved to Tehran, Persia. In 1941, they were forced to move again and settled in Australia.
Career
Ducker worked as a research assistant for Dr. Ethel Irene McLennan of the botany school at the University of Melbourne. She completed a BSc at the University in 1952. In 1957, she became a botany lecturer at the university and, in 1961, a senior lecturer. She specialized in marine botany, especially algae. She retired in 1974 but continued to conduct research, present papers and lecture. After her retirement, she collaborated with Professor Bruce Knox at the University of Melbourne on pollination, particularly that of seagrasses. Ducker received a DSc from the University of Melbourne in 1978. She also published biographies of early Australian botanists. The standard author abbreviation Ducker is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Ducker was a founding member of the Australasian Society for Phycology and Aquatic Botany.
In 1993, Ducker was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Melbourne.
Awards
In 1996 she received the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science's Mueller Medal.
Death
Ducker died in Melbourne at the age of 95.