OBITUARIES

Ann Oaks

Dr. Ann Oaks died Friday, January 13, at the age of 76. Ann was an amazing plant physiologist, a devoted member of the American Society of Plant Biologists, and a major benefactor of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists/La Société Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale (CSPP–SCPV). Raised in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, she is remembered as an excellent swimmer and good skier, who was active in many other sports. Her lifelong fascination with nature drove her to become one of the first female firewatchers, a job that gave her ample opportunity to gather and identify local flora and fauna. Ann’s interest in biology led to a BA (Honors Biology) from the University of Toronto in 1951, and to MA and PhD degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in 1954 and 1959, respectively. She visited the far north and was captivated by it, working for a year in Churchill, Manitoba.

Most of her research career was spent as a faculty member in the Department of Biology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario (1965 to 1989, emeritus), and as adjunct faculty in the Department of Botany at the University of Guelph in Ontario (1989 to 1999). Her research focused on plant nitrogen metabolism, primarily in maize seedlings, and the quality of her research gained her international respect. She developed and cherished working relationships and friendships with scientists from India, Japan, Europe, and across North America. Her work not only pushed forward the understanding of the physiology of plant growth but also helped open doors for women who followed in her footsteps.

Ann was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1986, and received the Gold Medal from the CSPP–SCPV in 1988. Her prominence and leadership in plant physiology were recognized through an invitation to describe her career in a prefatory chapter for the Annual Reviews of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology (Oaks, A. 2000. Fifty years of plant science: Was there really no place for a woman?, 51:1–16).

She passed on her passion for plant physiology and biochemistry to both undergraduate and graduate students, encouraging them to question and challenge ideas. Her interests were widespread, from fighting against the untested introduction of genetically modified crops to collecting Inuit art. In later years she did not let the frailty of her body slow her down. She was awarded a DSc from McMaster in 2004 and was recognized as a Woman of Distinction for lifetime achievement by the Guelph YWCA. She was a supporter of many charities, and her generous contributions to the CSPP–SCPV led to the establishment of the Ann Oaks Scholarship Fund.

Readers are welcome to make a donation to the charity of their choice in memory of Ann. A memorial service will be held later this year.