Hugh Bryan Spencer Womersley 1922–2011

Abstract

Hugh Bryan Spencer Womersley disliked the word ‘seaweed’, and objected every time it was spoken in his presence. To him algae were not ‘weeds’ but beautiful organisms, well worthy of making the subject of a lifetime of scientific study. As was common in the middle of the twentieth century, Womersley did not begin his career as a phycologist, but rather found himself specialising in this life form after discovering how richly represented and little known it was along the coast of southern Australia. In his seventy-year association with the University of Adelaide, Bryan transformed the study of phycology in Australia, attracting a pool of talented students to contribute to his grand project of a marine benthic flora of southern Australia, and to carry the study of algae forward into the next generation. Being a pioneer in the field gave him opportunities for ground-breaking research and an overview of the discipline as it developed, positioning him as the leading expert on Australian algae in the international phycological community.