Joan Dingley facts for kids

Joan Marjorie Dingley OBE (born May 14, 1916 – died January 1, 2008) was a very important scientist from New Zealand. She was one of the first women to make big contributions to science there. Joan worked for the DSIR Plant Diseases Division from 1941 to 1976. She even became the head of the team that studied fungi, which is called mycology. She was a top scientist who did research both in labs and out in nature. She studied plant diseases and how to classify fungi.

Studying Fungi and Plants

Joan Dingley loved studying fungi, especially a group called ascomycetes. She became a world expert on these types of fungi very quickly. To show how important her work was, about 30 different kinds of fungi have dingleyae in their scientific name. Also, a whole group of fungi, called Dingleya, was named after her!

She wrote a very important and complete list of all the plant diseases found in New Zealand. This big book was published in 1969.

Building a Fungi Collection

Joan also helped create the New Zealand Fungal Herbarium. This is like a special library or museum for dried fungi specimens. When she started, there were about 4,000 fungi samples. By the time she retired, she had helped grow the collection to an amazing 35,000 samples! This collection is very useful for scientists who want to study fungi.

Helping Botanic Gardens

Besides her science work, Joan loved gardening and plants. She was a key person in starting the Auckland Regional Botanic Gardens. These gardens are a beautiful place where people can learn about and enjoy plants. Because of her hard work, she became an honorary life member of the 'Friends' group for the gardens.

Awards and Recognition

Joan Dingley received many honors for her important work. In 1994, Massey University gave her an honorary DSc degree. This is a very high academic award.

In 1995, she was given the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen. This was to recognize her great contributions to botany, which is the study of plants.

In 2004, a science organization called Landcare Research named one of its labs in Auckland after her. It's called the JM Dingley Microbiology Laboratory. Joan even attended the special ceremony when they named it!

In 2017, Joan Dingley was chosen as one of the "150 women in 150 words" by the Royal Society Te Apārangi. This celebrated the amazing things women have done for knowledge in New Zealand.