Jane Brotherton Walker facts for kids

Jane Brotherton Walker (born January 31, 1925 – died April 3, 2009) was a very important scientist. She was a top expert on ticks, especially those found in Africa. Ticks are tiny creatures related to spiders that can sometimes carry diseases. Jane Walker helped us understand them better by studying how they are classified, which is called taxonomy.

Her Early Life and Education

Jane Walker was born in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 31, 1925. She grew up on a farm, and her mother taught her at home when she was young. Later, she went to high school in England and finished in 1944 at the Retford High School for Girls.

While in England, Jane got sick with poliomyelitis, often called polio. This illness slowly made it harder for her to walk, especially as she got older.

She went to Liverpool University and earned her first science degree, a Bachelor of Science (with Honours), in 1948. She then got her Master of Science degree in 1959 from the same university. Later, in 1983, she received a special honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. This was a big honor for her amazing work.

A Career Studying Ticks

Jane Walker started her career in 1949. She worked as a research officer in Muguga, Kenya, studying animal health for the government. She became a top scientist there.

In 1966, she moved to South Africa and joined the Veterinary Research Institute in Onderstepoort. She spent the rest of her working life at this institute. She became a Chief Veterinary Researcher and worked as a Specialist Scientist until 1990, when health issues made her retire. Even after retiring, she continued to work part-time at Onderstepoort until 1998.

Jane Walker was a leading expert on certain types of ticks, especially the Rhipicephalus and African Amblyomma ticks. She also helped edit the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research for many years. During her career, she wrote or helped write 53 scientific papers and five books. She also discovered and described 18 new species of ticks!

Her Lasting Legacy

Jane Walker passed away at her home in Pretoria, South Africa, on April 3, 2009. She left behind a huge amount of knowledge in her published works. She also shared her wisdom and trained many other important researchers, like Gertrud Theiler and Harry Hoogstraal.

Awards and Tributes

Besides the honorary Doctor of Science degree she received in 1983, Jane Walker was given three very important awards in biological science in South Africa:

• In 1988, she received the Elsdon Dew Medal. This award was for her outstanding work in parasitology (the study of parasites) in Africa.
• In 1998, she was named the Agricultural Science and Technology Woman of the Year.
• Also in 1998, she received the Theiler Memorial Trust Award for her amazing service to Veterinary Science in Africa.

To honor her important contributions to understanding ticks, two tick species were named after her:

• The argasid tick Argas walkerae (discovered in 1969) is known as "Walker's South African fowl argasid."
• The ixodid tick Haemaphysalis walkerae (discovered in 2019) was also named in her honor.