Betty Fondly Remembered

New Zealand freshwater algae expert Dr Elizabeth Flint, known as Betty, who was still at the wheel of her 1958 Ford Consul in her 90s, has died, aged 102. Flint’s friend Catherine Haines writes her obituary for the Guardian: “She was born in Edmonton, north London, and was brought up in New Malden until her family emigrated to New Zealand in 1921. Betty went to school at St Margaret’s College in Christchurch then studied botany at Canterbury University before completing a doctorate at London’s Queen Mary College. In 1947 she returned to New Zealand to lecture in botany at Victoria University. She did valuable research on freshwater and terrestrial algae and published more than 30 papers. She was employed part-time by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) until her retirement in 1974. She collaborated with Hannah Croasdale and Marilyn Racine on Flora of New Zealand (published in three volumes, 1986, 1988 and 1994), and continued to work voluntarily two days a week at Lincoln University, identifying algae, until she was 100. Betty also had a keen interest in birds and in wild flowers. She was appointed OBE in 1991 and was awarded the New Zealand commemoration medal in 1990.

Dr Elizabeth Flint: May 26 1909 – December 7 2011