The Linnean Gold Medal is a medal awarded by the Linnean Society of London in "special circumstances" for "services to the Society". As the society's highest honour it has, to date, only been awarded three times. [1] [2]
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes.
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park.
Professor Philip MacDonald Sheppard, F.R.S. was a British geneticist and lepidopterist. He made advances in ecological and population genetics in lepidopterans, pulmonate land snails and humans. In medical genetics, he worked with Sir Cyril Clarke on Rh disease.
The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and is for the preceding years often referred to as "the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society", not to be confused with the official Linnean Gold Medal which is seldom awarded.
William Thomas Stearn was a British botanist. Born in Cambridge in 1911, he was largely self-educated, and developed an early interest in books and natural history. His initial work experience was at a Cambridge bookshop, but he also had a position as an assistant in the university botany department. At the age of 29 he married Eldwyth Ruth Alford, who later became his collaborator, and he died in London in 2001.
Dame Georgina Mary Mace, was a British ecologist and conservation scientist. She was Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystems at University College London, and previously Professor of Conservation Science and Director of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London (2006–2012) and Director of Science at the Zoological Society of London (2000–2006).
Vernon Hilton Heywood is a British biologist. His specializations are medicinal and aromatic plants, and the conservation of wild relatives of plants.
The Darwin–Wallace Medal is a medal awarded by the Linnean Society of London for "major advances in evolutionary biology". Historically, the medals have been awarded every 50 years, beginning in 1908. That year marked 50 years after the joint presentation by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace of two scientific papers—On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection—to the Linnean Society of London on 1 July 1858. Fittingly, Wallace was one of the first recipients of the medal, in his case it was, exceptionally, in gold, rather than the silver version presented in the six other initial awards. However, in 2008 the Linnean Society announced that due to the continuing importance of evolutionary research, the medal will be awarded on an annual basis beginning in 2010.
The Bicentenary Medal is a scientific award given by the Linnean Society. It is awarded annually in recognition of work done by a biologist under the age of 40 years. The medal was first awarded in 1978 on the 200th anniversary of the death of Carl Linnaeus.
The H. H. Bloomer Award is an award of the Linnean Society, established in 1963 from a legacy by the amateur naturalist Harry Howard Bloomer, which is awarded to "an amateur naturalist who has made an important contribution to biological knowledge." The recipients, alternatively a botanist and a zoologist, are presented with a silver medal and a donation from the Fund.
John Dransfield is an honorary research fellow and former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom, as well as being an authority on the phylogenetic classification of palms.
Errol Ivor White CBE FRS FLS FGS was a British geologist. He was President of the Ray Society from 1956 to 1959 and President of the Linnean Society of London from 1964 to 1967.
Commemoration of Carl Linnaeus has been ongoing for over two centuries. Celebrated for his scientific work, Linnaeus was knighted and granted nobility in life. After his death, he has been featured in sculpture, on postage stamps and banknotes, as well as by a medal from the eponymous Linnean Society of London. Several notable people have the given names Linnaeus/Linné or Linnea/Linnéa. Among other things named in his honor are plants, astronomical features, towns, an arboretum, a mineral and a university.
Stephen Blackmore CBE FRSE FRSB FLS is a British botanist, who was educated at St. George's School, Hong Kong and the University of Reading where he completed his PhD in 1976 on the "Palynology and Systematics of the Cichorieae". He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1976. He then worked at the Royal Society of London’s Research Station on Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean before being appointed Lecturer in Biology and Head of the National Herbarium and Botanic Garden at the University of Malawi. In 1980, he was appointed Head of Palynology at Natural History Museum in London and from 1990 to 1999 served there as Keeper of Botany. In 1985 he organized, together with Keith Ferguson, the Linnean Society symposium "Pollen and Spores: Form and Function" and in 1990, together with Susan Barnes, "Pollen and Spores: Patterns of Diversification". He was the 15th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1999 until 20 December 2013, and was appointed Her Majesty's Botanist in Scotland in 2010.
Norman Loftus Bor CIE OBE FRSE FLS FNI was an Irish botanist. He was awarded the Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society in 1962.
Doris Mary Kermack FLS was a British paleontologist and marine zoologist at Imperial College London. She completed her PhD thesis entitled 'The anatomy and physiology of the gut of Arenicola marina L.' at University College London in 1953. In 1988 she was awarded the Linnean Gold Medal for outstanding service to the society. She had two sons with her husband and fellow paleontologist Kenneth Kermack.
Papadakis Publisher is an independent art, architecture and natural science book publisher founded in London, United Kingdom, by Andreas Papadakis and his daughter Alexandra Papadakis. Since 1968, Papadakis Publisher and its predecessor Academy Editions have published more than a thousand titles, on art, architecture, science and the decorative arts.
The Trail-Crisp Award, of the Linnean Society of London, was established in 1966 and is an amalgamation of The Trail Award and The Crisp Award. The Trail-Crisp Award is presented at intervals "in recognition of an outstanding contribution to biological microscopy that has been published in the UK".
Sir James Eric Smith, CBE, FRS was a British zoologist.