Dr Patrick Brownsey Awarded 2008 Allan Mere
In early August it was announced by Wellington Botanical Society President Dr Carol West that Dr Patrick Brownsey has been awarded the 2008 Allan Mere by the New Zealand Botanical Society. The Allan Mere, a piece of nephrite/pounamu carved in the form of a mere or patu (a traditional hand club weapon of the Maori) was gifted to the former DSIR Botany Division by the late Dr Lucy Moore. It was Moore’s intention that the mere be awarded to DSIR staff that had made an outstanding contribution to New Zealand botany. The epithet “Allan” was chosen by Moore to honour Dr Harry Allan, the lead author of Volume 1 of the New Zealand Flora series and the first Director of the DSIR Botany Division. Following the “dismemberment” of the DSIR Botany Division during the late 1980s and early 1990s the annual gifting of the Allan Mere was, at the suggestion of Dr Peter Wardle, taken over by the New Zealand Botanical Society.Dr Brownsey has (and continues to have) a distinguished career in New Zealand pteridology. He is probably best known to New Zealanders for his revision of Asplenium (a genus that has been his life-long passion) and senior authorship of the seminal “New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants”, a book that was co-written with Sir John Smith-Dodsworth in 1989 and is now into its second edition. However, Patrick has made a much greater contribution than this, both as an internationally respected biosystematist, herbarium curator (Patrick manages the herbarium WELT at Te Papa – Museum of New Zealand); moss expert and even “Curator of Stamps” at Te Papa. Author of over 100 papers, Patrick has long been respected as the expert in this country on all things fern related. In his later years he has managed the FoRST funded Hebe monograph that was completed in 2006 by Dr(s) Mike Bayly and Ali Kellow, and he is now a major contributing member to the FoRST funded Outcome Based Investment “Defining New Zealand’s Biodiversity”. Patrick is a well respected and important mentor of young New Zealand botanists. However, Patrick’s other roles in New Zealand botany have often gone – as he would greatly prefer it – unrecognised. With the 2008 Allan Mere award it is pleasing to see that all these contributions have indeed been appreciated by the myriad people who supported his nomination by the Wellington Botanical Society.
Congratulations Patrick.
Posted: 19/09/2008