Harry Godwin

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Professor Sir Harry Godwin FRS, (9 May 1901 - 12 August 1985) was a prominent English botanist and ecologist of the 20th century. He had a long association with Clare College, Cambridge.

[edit] Early life

Godwin was born in Yorkshire and soon after moved to Long Eaton, Derbyshire. He had a successful school career and gained scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge in 1918, gaining his PhD in 1926. He was to be closely involved with Clare College for the rest of his life. It was at this time that he first made friends with the ecologist Arthur Tansley who was to be an important influence on Godwin for many years.

[edit] Work

His work began in botany and plant physiology, and he continued this throughout his career, eventually becoming a professor of botany in 1960. However his most notable work was in the development of the science of ecology, which was, at the start of his career, in its infancy. He was an early exponent of the study of ecological successions, such as in the fen wetlands at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, where he established the Godwin Plots which can be still seen there today. He was the founder and first director of the Subdepartment of Quaternary Research at Cambridge University in 1948, where he supervised pioneering work on the new technique of radiocarbon dating.

Harry Godwin was a stimulating teacher and researcher. His students include many famous practitioners including Richard West, Sir Nick Shackleton, Joakim Donner and many others.

In 1966 he was the recipient of the Linnean Medal.