TCD Botany Centenery Celebration - David Webb 'The Man and the Myth'

Celebrating the life and work of Professor David A. Webb on Friday 16th November 2012 in the Botany Department, Trinity College Dublin, the adjacent SNIAM Building and the Dining Hall. 

Lectures: no charge
Dinner is €20.50 pp
Student dinner is €10.00
Places are limited so please book early!

David Allardice Webb was born in Dublin on the 12th August 1912 (two months ahead of another eminent naturalist and future colleague, Frank Mitchell). David graduated in Natural Sciences at TCD in 1935. His earliest research was in Zoology and in 1939 he gained a Ph.D from Cambridge for his thesis on the biochemistry of marine invertebrates. However, his first employment was as Assistant in the Department of Botany at TCD, and his interests shifted dramatically. By 1943 he had pub-lished An Irish Flora, now in its 8th edition. This book has become a household word—no botanical field-trip is complete without a ‘Webb’ in one’s rucksack. David became Professor of Plant Biology in 1949 and Professor of Systematic Bot-any in 1966. He was a superb lec-turer. He introduced field-trips to the curriculum - a previously un-known concept in the Department. He was a towering figure not only in Irish but in European botany. His magnum opus is Flora Europaea, of which he was joint editor. He also published major work on the taxonomy of Saxifraga (saxifrages).

David was a Fellow of TCD and played a major role in the life of the College, which was his home for over 50 years. He was a man of extraordinary culture and erudition. His hospitality was legendary and he had a wide circle of friends. He was also ‘famously abrupt’; his foibles and bons mots continue to be remembered. It is timely to celebrate the life and work of one of Trinity’s most remarkable scholars.
A pitcher of Nepenthes insignis from New Guinea

Speakers

Matthew Jebb gained his primary degree and PhD. at Oxford University. He was a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Botany Department TCD during which time he benefitted much from the wisdom of David Webb, then Emeritus Professor. His work at TCD involved preparation of a revision of the Araliaceae (Ivy Family) for the Flora of Thailand.

Matthew has specialised in the taxonomy and biology of the ant plants (eg Myrmecodia), as well as the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes. Matthew was Director of the Christensen Research Institute in Papua New Guinea. He has made substantial contributions to the Botany of both Ireland and the Asian Tropics. He has been Director of the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin since 2010.

Sean Barrett
Senator Sean Barrett represents our College and University in Seanad Eireann. He is also Associate Professor in the Economics Department of Trinity College, and a Fellow of the College. Over the course of his career Sean has made a reputation for himself as one of Ireland’s foremost economists. Prof. Barrett is a courageously independent voice in Irish public life. He “has been one of the very few to have attacked the Cosy Consensus Cartel that dominated Irish economic thought over this period that has led directly to the bankrupting of the nation” (D. Hickey). Sean was a long-standing friend of David Webb, and has helped to keep evergreen the memories of David’s unique contribution to College life.

The Botany Department has grown over the last 300 years to accommodate eight academic staff supported by an executive officer and three technicians on campus in addition to the TCD Botanic Gardens in Dartry which are maintained by two garden staff.

We deliver teaching to three undergraduate Moderatorships (Plant Sciences, Environmental Science and Functional Biology) and three taught masters (Biodiversity & Conservation, Environmental Sciences and Development Practice).
The department is also very active in research, supporting postgraduate students and research fellows working across a broad spectrum of topics. We invite you to explore our current activities in more detail through our web-site, www.tcd.ie/botany 

Source: HortiTrends News Room