Thread by @PSAAlgae

Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of noted phycologist Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott.

She was the first Native Hawai’ian woman to earn a PhD in science and became a renowned expert on Pacific #algae.

Known as the "First Lady of Limu*", Abbott first started learning about edible seaweeds from her mother and spent hours collecting them from the beaches of Maui.

She even wrote a book about how to cook seaweeds!

*limu is Hawaiian for seaweed

She began teaching classes at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station in 1960.

She then went on to become the first female full professor in Stanford’s biology department, as well as the first minority full professor in 1972.

During this time, she wrote "Marine Algae of California", an invaluable resource for all phycologists looking at Pacific algae.

Throughout the rest of her career, she wrote another 7 books and over 150 articles.

She retired from Stanford and returned to Hawai'i, where she joined the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and taught Hawai'ian ethnobotany (for which they created a bachelors degree program).

She discovered over 200 species of #algae, with many more named after her.

Abbott was awarded the Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal in 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences (the highest award in marine botany) and named a Living Treasure of Hawaii.

She even got to name a NOAA research ship and chose chose Hi’ialakai meaning embracing pathways to the sea.

Happy Birthday Izzy.

For more information on Isabella Abbott:

bit.ly/2I0hHx4

bit.ly/2tdZrZ3

bit.ly/2CV54QL

bit.ly/1U1XB5L

#WomeninSTEM #Phycologist #algae #seaweed #limu #Hawaii

A correction: Isabella Abbott's 100th birthday will actually be on June 20, 2019.

However, there's no reason to not celebrate the First Lady of Limu's birthday a little early.

Thanks for sharing Izzy Abbott's amazing accomplishments and life.