David John Galloway
(1942–2014)
BSc MSc PhD DSc Otago FRGS FLS FRSNZ
David John Galloway FRSNZ (photo: Peter Johnson)
David John Galloway was born in Invercargill on 7 May 1942. He died in Dunedin on 6 December 2014 after a short illness.
To say that David was and is revered in life and in death is an understatement. His reach was great and his interests broad.
In life this distinguished, accomplished and productive man was widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most productive lichenologists of our time (Arviddson 2007). At the time of his death he had well over 300 publications to his name, many as first or sole author (Appendix I). Further, as a lichen taxonomist and systematist, he had introduced six lichen genera, and named more than 250 new species and/or combinations (Appendix II). Recognition also came through the 21 taxa named in his honour (Appendix II). It must be said however that although lichens might have driven Dr Galloway’s fascination of science, his contributions go way beyond scientific enquiry. He was a consummate scholar and polymath with considerable knowledge of music, particularly the classical and operatic repertoire that inspired - not least those for which he had a very personal and abiding connection – as well as botanical history. His level of recall was legendary.
David loved his science, he loved the natural world, and he liked people, of all ages and backgrounds. David was able to inspire and relate not only to academics and specialists in his field but others too, a feature that was valued by many people, young and old, over the course of his life. He was a prolific correspondent, illustrated by just one example (of many) through the words of his friend and colleague Lars Arvidsson in Sweden (Arvidsson 2007, page 3): “When ploughing through my two big files of Galloway documents, I find some 250 letters, postcards and at the present time, e-mails from him. And long letters as well, often in his characteristic flowing hand. Reading David’s letters are a real treat as they not only cover scientific subjects but also go into all sorts of personal and family matters, music, gardening, weather, food, events etc.” David clearly gathered many people into his life.
David Galloway’s immense contributions have been commemorated in a number of ways during his life, not least through a 603-page compendium paying him tribute on the occasion of his retirement at the age of 65 (Kärnefelt & Thell 2007). In the Preface to this impressive publication, the editors Ingvar Kärnefelt and Arne Thell introduce the 36 papers (put together by 55 contributors) and state (page III): “Working with David was always exciting: with his extraordinary enthusiasm he encouraged those around him, both in their scientific activities and in the associated administrative work.” In this volume, Arvidsson (2007) in ‘A Bibliography of David Galloway’ aptly goes on to write (page 3): “Galloway is well known as an engaged explorer of New Zealand’s lichen flora. His scientific work covers all aspects of lichenology, such as monographic treatments of various groups, local floras, morphology, nomenclature, biogeography, ecology, conservation, molecular biology and chemistry of lichens, as well as historical accounts, biographies, bibliographies and check-lists.”
David Galloway’s considerable contributions to lichenology and lichenologists worldwide, and the esteem with which he was (and is) held were recognised in the form of numerous awards and accolades by his peers during his life. These included being awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) in Botany by the University of Otago for published original contributions of special excellence in 1988, being elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (FLS) in 1991, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ) in 1998, and his election as Foreign Member of the Royal Society Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2011. He was awarded the prestigious Acharius Medal (International Association for Lichenology) in 2008 for lifetime achievement in lichenology and the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Hutton Medal for excellence in plant sciences in 2010.
David Galloway’s meticulous and thorough research contributions are notable not only to the fields of lichen taxonomy and systematics, but also to botanical history. His reverence and fascination for past contributors to the field of lichenology was immense and his several comprehensive biographies of notable lichenologists will stand the test of time. Through painstaking transcriptions of letters and other writings, David brought their voices to the published world. Indeed these endeavours continued right until the time of his death. His final contribution, published posthumously in February 2015, was a 67 page magnum opus on the life of James Murray, a renowned early pioneer of natural product chemistry and a notable lichenologist in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Otago who died tragically in a car accident in 1961.
In paying tribute to David John Galloway in this obituary, in our turn we have followed David’s biographic style and tried to bring his own voice to these pages.
The early years
David attended Surrey Park School, Invercargill from 1947 to 1950, then Waihopai School, Invercargill from1950 to 1954, and Southland Boys' High School from 1955 to 1959. By all accounts at an early age and with the encouragement of some teachers, particularly Gordon Martin his Chemistry teacher, David developed what was to become a life-long interest in lichens.
In his biography of Olof Swartz (Galloway 2013, page 20), David wrote:
“As a schoolboy in southern New Zealand my interest in lichens stemmed from finding Cladia retipora, the coral lichen, in a Sphagnum bog on the outskirts of Invercargill…On subsequently finding elusive primary thalli of Cladia aggregate (first named by Swartz), and two related species, C. retipora and C. sullivanii, I published some observations on these seldom seen structures (Galloway 1966).”
He further records his memories of these times (with a characteristic addition of related information of interest) in his biography of James Murray (Galloway 2015, page 5):
“As a schoolboy in Invercargill, I often visited the Forest Hill Reserve, and in holiday work for the Reserves Department in the late 1950s, I even spent some time at the Forest Hill Reserve helping cart limestone blocks that were eventually landscaped by the late Carl Teschner (1892–1971) [Hebe youngii ‘Carl Teschner’ a fine, blue-flowered, hardy garden plant, widely used in rock garden plantings, is named in his honour] into the Speden Memorial Rock Garden in Queens Park, Invercargill.”
David’s enthusiasm led him to further studies at the University of Otago. Here he gained his BSc in 1963, his MSc in 1965, and his PhD in 1972, all in biochemistry. During his BSc years he met James Murray in the Chemistry Department, and in his biography of Murray (Galloway 2015, page 26) David records:
“In March [1960], University classes started up again and as I was now a Stage II Chemistry student, I at last met Dr Murray… as I had known of him from Gordon Martin, my Chemistry teacher in Invercargill, being introduced to him by Ted Corbett (Galloway 2011). One of the first things I brought to Jas (as he was from the start of our acquaintance) were my specimens of the primary thallus of Cladia retipora from Tussock Creek on the Southland Plain north of Invercargill. He was most excited at this and promptly made some sections of them and the following day showed me what their structure looked like … He enthusiastically named material that I brought back from tramping trips, and he decided too that we should start a collection of Ramalina from the Dunedin area and he made a list of possible names… and a tentative key to help in identification.”
After Murray’s untimely death in 1961, help was sought from the British Museum, and Peter James, a lichenologist with interests in the Southern Hemisphere, came to Dunedin to process the very large Murray lichen collection. David recalls (Galloway 2015, pages 33-34):
“Peter James arrived in October 1962… and I was given a vacation job as his assistant. I have written elsewhere a detailed account of Peter James’s time in Dunedin (Galloway 2014…). Suffice to say that by mid-March 1963, all 5000-odd lichens comprising “The Murray Collection” were examined, named (where possible) and material formerly stored in manila University envelopes transferred to packets with OTA labels where they now form the major part of this important Southern Hemisphere lichen herbarium (Galloway 2012: 592).”
During these times of study he was also an Assistant Lecturer in Biochemistry from 1965 to 1968 and a Fellow and Tutor at Knox College, a residential college affiliated to the University of Otago, from 1963 to 1965. Indeed, he maintained enduring links with the University of Otago throughout his career not only through his research but also through his ongoing commitment to its affiliate, Knox College, to which he was later appointed Quinqennial Fellow in 2006.
1969 - 1994
In 1969, David was appointed as a Scientific Officer in the Applied Biochemistry Division of the then-Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in Palmerston North, transferring to the Botany Division DSIR at Lincoln in 1973. Dr Eric Godley, then Director of Botany Division, facilitated David’s secondment to the Department of Botany, British Museum (Natural History) in London from 1973 to 1982 where he worked towards the Flora of New Zealand Lichens alongside Peter James.
David writes (Galloway 2015, page 34):
“When I transferred from Applied Biochemistry Division DSIR to Botany Division DSIR at the end of 1972, Eric Godley, the Director of Botany Division, wisely suggested that I go to work with Peter James at the BM [British Museum] and start research towards a New Zealand lichen Flora. I knew Peter well from working as his assistant in Dunedin in 1962–63 and we’d corresponded fairly regularly from that time onward. He arranged a congenial place for me to stay close to the Museum, and once I began work at the BM and before my cases of New Zealand specimens arrived, he introduced me to the libraries and literature of the Museum, and showed me the lichen herbaria and the workings of the Lichen Section. We discussed how best a New Zealand lichen Flora might be approached, and at first it was agreed that a macrolichen account would be best, but when my stay in London was increased from two years to four, it became feasible to include what was known of the microlichens as well. But initially, I needed to get to know the extant New Zealand lichen literature. Peter produced James Murray’s MS bibliography of some 190 references…, and this I made use of as the foundation of my own work in the bibliography of New Zealand lichenology (Galloway 1974, 1984, 1994 and continuing). It was an enormously helpful guide which I acknowledged thus: “…In preparing this list of references I have made use of a manuscript bibliography prepared in the 1950’s by the late Dr James Murray of the Chemistry Department, University of Otago. Copies are held in the libraries of the British Museum (Natural History), London, and of Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch…Since Murray’s death in 1961, interest in New Zealand lichens has grown, a development which took considerable impetus from the results and inspiration of Murray’s own researches. The number of local papers in which lichens are mentioned has increased substantially and the present bibliography contains more than 400 entries. Of course not all of these additional reports are the result of post-1961 work, indeed many are from the older literature gleaned from searches in the exhaustively comprehensive libraries of the British Museum (Natural History) and of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew…” (Galloway 1974).”
David developed an intense interest in the biographic histories of a number of lichenologists during this period, another being Swartz, and in Galloway (2013, page 20), David also writes:
“In 1973 I began work on a New Zealand lichen flora at the Natural History Museum in London. There, I came across Swartz’s first publication, his dissertation on mosses and lichens (Swartz 1781) which contained the first lichen to be described from New Zealand…. Thus began a long personal interest in Swartz and his interactions with lichens and lichenologists.”
In terms of his contemporaries during this period, David was also part of the inaugural meeting of the International Association of Lichenologists (IAL). This was a significant occasion, as Kärnefelt (2014) recalls (page 64): “The first IAL meeting in the Austrian Alps [September 1973] became an historically important event in that not only were the three above-mentioned lichenologists present [eminent lichenologists Peter James, Josef Poelt and Rolf Santesson], but also many of those who attended, such as Irwin Brodo, Anna Crespo, David Galloway, Hannes Hertel, Klaus Kalb, Rosmarie Honegger, Marie-Agnes Letrouit-Galinou, Xavier Llimona, Claude Roux, Harrie Sipman, Ulrik Søchting and Volkmar Wirth, would in different ways contribute significantly to lichenology in the future.” Indeed, David was later to become President of the IAL in 1987 and several of the participants were to become life-long friends and colleagues.
Three Directors of DSIR Botany Division supported David in his significant lichen work much of which was undertaken overseas: Eric Godley, Henry Connor and Warwick Harris. In working towards this Flora of New Zealand Lichens, a monumental contribution which was to be published in its first edition in 1985 (Galloway 1985), David studied numerous collections, reporting back regularly to his colleagues at DSIR Botany Division at Lincoln either as a direct report or through the many letters that his friends and colleagues received in his characteristic flowing script. His progress can be followed in the DSIR Botany Division Newsletters, through his own narrative or through those of others. The April 1975 DSIR Botany Division Newsletter contains a ‘Report from David Galloway’ and here David writes (pages 5-6):
“Scandinavia August-September, 1974: One week was spent in Helsinki looking at the extensive type collections held in the Acharius (holotype), Nylander and general Herbaria. Much important New Zealand material was studied and the Nylander correspondence in the library of the University of Helsinki was read through and New Zealand letters (largely from W. Lauder Lindsay and Charles Knight) were copied.
Three weeks were spent in Uppsala at the Instutionen for Systematik Botanisk and the Växtbiologiska Institutionen. At the former institute I was able to examine the lichen herbaria of Thunberg, Acharius and Th. Fries as well as more modern collections, particularly of Du Rietz and Santesson, in which a number of important New Zealand species are represented. The bulk of my time was however spent in the basement of the Växtbiologen curating the 4000-odd lichens that G. Einar and Greta Du Rietz collected from many localities in New Zealand in 1926-27. The collection is probably the most comprehensive extant of New Zealand lichens and apart from odd specimens the collection as a whole has never been viewed by a single person since the time of its collection. Through the great kindness of Einar Du Rietz's widow, Greta Sernander Du Rietz (his first wife and fellow collector) I was able to see all of the New Zealand lichens and to learn at first hand of the circumstances of their collection – all facts of great importance and interest in South Pacific Botany which I hope will be prepared for publication towards the end of this year. After Uppsala a day was spent with Prof. Rolf Santesson at the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet in Stockholm where I was able to see the Berggren lichens something of the vast South American lichen collections of Malme and Santesson in the Regnellian Herbarium. I also had the good fortune to lunch with Prof. Eric Hultén who questioned me mercilessly about New Zealand and the South Pacific, the only parts of the globe that he has not yet visited. A consequence of this long and varied conversation was to lose half of my lunch to Hulten's dog, a custom that his other lunchtime colleagues are aware of and prepared for!
March 1975: Three days were spent at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh sorting out historical lichen collections of some interest to New Zealand. A number of lichens collected by Allan and Richard Cunningham were found as well as many collected in Otago in 1861 by W. Lauder Lindsay. Most important was the complete lichen herbarium of Archibald Menzies with specimens from his collecting and voyaging years from 1784 - 1800. The lichens of the Vancouver expedition include a good number of well-preserved plants from Dusky Sound as well as from other places called at on the voyage (particularly the west coast of North America) and there are good collections from the earlier voyage round the world under Captain Colnett. These collections are being brought to London for study in conjunction with the Menzies lichens present in the British Museum and in the herbarium of the Linnean Society.”
He continues in the April 1978 Newsletter (DSIR Botany Division 1978, pages 9-10):
“…Work on the curating of the lichen herbarium continues apace, thanks to the stout efforts of Margaret Boyd. Our Herbarium now contains the most diverse collection of New Zealand lichens of any botanical institution in the world. It is expected that the arrangement of the collection should be substantially complete by the end of June. Over the next twelve months or so sets of New Zealand lichens will be prepared for transmission to Professor Gerhard Follmann at Kassel for distribution in his exsiccatum and through this it is hoped to build up the holdings foreign lichens in our Herbarium. Within two years I would think it highly likely that our lichen herbarium would be the best in the Southern Hemisphere and a centre of considerable interest to the many lichenologists who will be attending the International Botanical Congress in 1981.”
And in the June 1978 Newsletter (DSIR Botany Division 1978, page 8) in ‘Lichen notes (David Galloway)’:
“From 12 to 19 May I was in Melbourne at the National Herbarium to attend the third biennial meeting of Australian lichenologists. I spoke to them about the development of lichenology in New Zealand and the current interests in taxonomy, ecology, physiology and chemistry. The decision was made to form an Australasian Lichen Society, open to anyone interested in lichens, with the intention to plan field and/or discussion meetings in Australia or New Zealand and to keep lichenologists in touch with each other through the issuing of a newsletter. I also worked on Australian collections of Pseudocyphellaria, Lobaria, Siphula, Stereocaulon and Xanthoparmelia.”
To be followed in January 1979 Newsletter (DSIR Botany Division 1979, pages 4-5) where he reports:
“On Tuesday 23 January, a series of papers on lichens were read, the first time in many years that lichenology was discussed in any detail at an ANZAAS meeting. Of interest were the following: D.H. Brown (University of Bristol) spoke on ion transport in lichens and mosses using examples from strongly polluted habitats in south-west England. T.G.A. Green (University of Waikato) discussed nitrogen fixation by blue-green algae in New Zealand species of Sticta and Pseudocyphellaria and showed that nitrogen fixation is a significant component of the nitrogen balance in some New Zealand forests. D. Cowan (University of Waikato) gave an account of the effects of dehydration on a series of metabolic processes in two common New Zealand lichens, Ramalina celastri (a common epiphyte of fenceposts) and Peltigera polydactyla (from moist, low-light habitats). D.J. Galloway presented a paper in which he outlined progress towards a New Zealand macro lichen and discussed possible future trends in New Zealand lichenology.”
In June 1980 (DSIR Botany Division 1980, page 5) in ‘News from David Galloway via Mollie Blackmore’ it is reported that “Melva and Bill Philipson visited David in early June. Earlier he spent a most useful but tiring time in Geneva working at the Müller Argoviensis lichen herbarium and reports that it is full of interesting New Zealand and Australian lichens. David is making good progress on the lichen flora. ..” and in April 1981 (DSIR Botany Division 1981, page 5) in ‘News from London’: “David Galloway continues to provide hospitality and local knowledge for colleagues from New Zealand. He met Margaret Bulfin on her arrival and mentions that Patrick Brownsey has settled in and will spend some time at the BM [British Museum] and then Kew. David gave a paper on Acharius and Swartz and the evolution of generic concepts in lichenology at the conference on History in the Service of Systematics. David has seen the first of the Alecto editions of the Banks-Parkinson plates and writes that they are "sumptuous". Patricia [an esteemed international opera singer and David’s wife] has had engagements in Hamburg (Ballo in Maschera) and Paris (St John Passion) and later in the season will be in Florence (Götterdämmerung), Frankfurt (Trovatore) and Covent Garden (Marriage of Figaro). David will be back in New Zealand to lead the lichen excursion at Cass and Boyle Lodge in early September, do some field work in the Far North with John Bartlett, and spend some time at the Division.”
David was appointed to the position of Senior Research Fellow, Department of Botany at the British Museum (Natural History) in London, in 1982. This position lasted until 1987. It was during this period that he produced the first edition of the New Zealand Lichen Flora. This Flora (Galloway 1985) changed Southern Hemisphere lichenology. There for the first time was a comprehensive account. David knew the volume’s limitations; it covered perhaps 60% of the actual lichen flora, and he was the first to acknowledge these. However, he was motivated to make available a working flora, as a basis for future work. He wrote in his Preface to this first edition (Galloway 1985, page x):
“The basic raw materials of any flora are adequate regional collections (with associated ecological and habitat data), and a detailed knowledge of the taxonomic literature (supported by examination of type specimen) relating to that flora. For a New Zealand lichen flora the first requirement demands local field knowledge, while the second means herbarium and library work in Britain and Europe, 12000 miles distant from where the lichens actually grow….Having the best of both worlds is of course an enviable solution and to a considerable extent in the 10 years that it has taken to prepare this flora, this I have had. The bulk of my time was spent in the British Museum with visits to other important European herbaria to study New Zealand lichens, interspersed with reasonably frequent visits back to New Zealand for field and herbarium work. My own field studies have alas been relatively superficial, except in a few cases, but it was considered more important to have available quickly, a working flora, warts and all, as a basis for informed future fieldwork, without postponing the work indefinitely until New Zealand’s lichens were more completely known.”
In a review of this 1985 edition of the Flora of New Zealand Lichens, Elix (1985, page 134) was effusive: “To conclude: this is one of the best written and stimulating works in general lichen taxonomy that the reviewer has read for some considerable time. It certainly does not solve all the problems in New Zealand lichenology but it will remain a major source of information and a stimulus to all workers in this field, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, for many years to come. David Galloway is certainly to be congratulated on the publication of this excellent volume which should find a prominent place in the libraries of all serious lichenologists, interested amateurs, and the general botanical community.”
In 1987, David became Principal Scientific Officer, and from 1990 until 1994 Head of Lichen/Bryophyte Division, Environmental Quality Programme, Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, London. His CV lists his research interests during this period: the taxonomy and biogeography of Southern Hemisphere lichen floras ‑ those of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, South America (especially Chile), and South East Asia (especially Malaysia/Indonesia); the biological role of lichens in high altitude, high latitude environments and as monitors of environmental change; studies of palaeotropical lichens (especially of the families Lobariaceae, Pannariaceae), and of lichens of southern temperate rainforests; bibliographical, biographical and historical aspects of Southern Hemisphere Botany; and the history of lichenology. During this period based in London, David also held many positions including President (1987-1992) and from 1996 Honorary Life President of the International Association for Lichenology (IAL), Vice President of the British Lichen Society (1993-94) and various roles in support of the scientific journals in his discipline.
The April 1987 Newsletter (DSIR Botany Division 1987, page 3) records his 1987 appointment, and other considerable successes: “David reports the excellent news that he has been given a permanent post at the British Museum. This is gratifying news for David because it comes at the time of severe curtailment of scientific positions at the Museum. David had attended 3 days of meetings associated with the British Lichen Society - one was the Linnean Society Bicentenary joint meeting and was called Horizons in Lichenology. David gave a paper on plate tectonics the distributions of Southern Hemisphere macrolichens and was able to show comparative slides of New Zealand and Chile. The papers will be printed in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. At the A.G.M. of the British Lichen Society David was appointed an Associate Editor of the Lichenologist. The Society is also part sponsoring the production of a modern British Lichen Flora and David has offered to write accounts of 3 crustose genera for it. David is also contributing to the first volume of Australian Lichen Flora. Other plans include a joint project with Per Magnus Jorgensen [a constant friend and colleague of David’s in Norway] on Pannaria and Parmeliella from Australasia following on their monograph on Leioderma. David has also prepared a checklist to New Zealand lichens which takes into account the most recent work on many of the crustose groups done in the past 5 years. This has so far 233 different genera and is a considerable advance on the lichen flora of just 2 years ago.
Peter James and David have just written an account of a new lichen genus from the Southern Hemisphere called Metus. David notes that the name grew out of discussions with Elizabeth Edgar and Henry Connor about 6 years ago - it commemorates the Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843 which brought Joseph Hooker to New Zealand. Metus being Latin for Terror, a reference to one of the ships of the expedition. "Metus is a good austral genus with two species in Chile and one in New Zealand, Tasmania and Victoria. In the paper we also describe the new species of Pycnothelia originally found on the Denniston Plateau in 1980 on a trip there with Jack Elix, Nancy Adams and Margaret Bulfin".
Finally, David notes that work on Pseudocyphellaria proceeds apace: the New Zealand monograph is in press and work is proceeding in earnest on a Chilean monograph based largely on collections made in November-December “…when 42 of the 45 species were collected in quantity including two fine new ones”. David hopes to send duplicates of his Chilean collections to CHR [the DSIR Botany Division Herbarium, now known as the Allan Herbarium CHR] in due course.
David concludes this most impressive record of his recent work with the information that Patricia is off to Milan for nearly 3 weeks at La Scala. The cold winter gets a mention as does Patricia and David's longing for some warmth in the sun.”
His focus also included some forays into remote Australia, again illustrating the international collaborations associated with the lichenological community of scholars of the time. Lepp (2012) provides this summary extract from the Australasian Lichenological Newsletter [which later in 1997 evolved into the scientific journal Australasian Lichenology], No. 23 August 1988: “Jack Elix, David Galloway and Heinar Streimann participated in the Kimberley Research Project of 1988. This lasted from April to July of 1988, with participants from various disciplines staying for varying lengths of time and was supported by a mix of sponsors from Australia and the UK. Helmut and Michaela Mayrhofer (Austria) and Klaus Kalb (Germany) visited Australia to collect specimens and meet with Australian colleagues.”
1995 – 2008
David and his wife Patricia returned to New Zealand in late 1994, and in 1995 he joined the Crown Research Institute, Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua, as a member of their Biosystematics of New Zealand Plants Programme. This part-time appointment extended to 2008 upon his ‘retirement’, but he gained other funding also, including a successful Marsden Grant to work on the question ‘Do New Zealand’s native grasslands and forests like lichens?’ held jointly with colleagues Kevin Farnden and Julian Eaton-Rye both in the University of Otago’s Department of Biochemistry (Thomas et al. 2002, Summerfield et al. 2002).
During this period, David describes his contributions as: ‘Specialising in systematic, environmental and ecological problems in Pacific lichenology with particular reference to the lichen mycobiotas of New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Malaysia; and to questions of lichen biodiversity, the role of lichens in high altitude grasslands, in temperate forest ecosystems, and to lichen biogeography, and history.’ Initially, David was based at his home in Miller’s Flat, Central Otago, where he could concentrate fully on his research, without getting distracted by bureaucracy, for which he had no time. In early 2004 he moved with Patricia to Dunedin.
As part of Landcare Research’s plant systematics programme, he worked on the revision of the first Flora of New Zealand Lichens (Galloway 1985) with the second edition published in two volumes in 2007 (Galloway 2007), at the same time being made available online on the day it was launched.
In the Preface to Galloway (2007, pages xiv-xv) David writes:
“…I returned to New Zealand to live in November 1994, and in 1995 started contract work for Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research on a variety of applied projects. In 1996 I began work on a second edition of the Flora of New Zealand Lichens, …This period coincided with a dramatic upturn in interest in South Pacific lichenology stimulated by the appearance of regional lichen Floras, checklists, keys, and popular works on lichenology…”
“Although the 1985 Flora must now be considered as pretty much a “trial run”, in many instances it is still a useful compilation and does show where we have advanced from in recent years. Twenty years on from there, the present Flora is still just a snapshot of New Zealand lichenology, though now one from near the beginning of the 21st century. Like its predecessor, it has its share of uncertainties and conjectures, but it now signals, rather more strongly than heretofore, where we might usefully travel in several areas in future…”
In a book review of this second edition Hawksworth (2009) writes (page 109): “This is a remarkable achievement by a remarkable person. David, who was born in New Zealand, has worked tirelessly on New Zealand lichens since his interest was first kindled in 1956, and fittingly was awarded the Acharius Medal of the International Association for Lichenology in July 2008” …. and “this is a massive supplement to the 1985 Flora rather than a stand-alone work”… and on page 110: “The Flora of New Zealand – Lichens, the crowning achievement of David’s most distinguished career, will be anything but ephemeral, and…is destined to become a classic work in lichenology to be used by generations to come.”
And in another review Kantvilas (2008, page 388) remarks: “…David's Flora remains the most complete account we have for lichens of any major austral region, and as such is indispensable for any student of Southern Hemisphere lichens, or lichens generally.
In summarising the importance of lichens, in the Preface to Galloway (2007, pages xviii-xix), David writes:
“Thirty years ago, when I was collecting lichens in the King Country, a farmer remarked to me, "It's all very well collecting these things, but what use are they to anyone?" I have pondered that question many times since, even though as a systematist I have a vested interest in providing correct names for taxa in our lichen mycobiota before suggesting possible or probable uses of lichens. However, we have now reached a stage in lichenology where the supremacy of taxonomy must yield to other, more applied disciplines, as we seek to find out exactly where lichens "fit in" to our landscapes and ecosystems. We can now answer the King Country farmer with the rejoinder that nowadays lichens have immediate and potential application in a variety of fields, including: (1) Lichens as biomonitors of terrestrial and atmospheric pollution [there is a huge literature on this subject, but for data on New Zealand environments see Johnson et al. (1998)]. (2) Lichens as monitors of global and environmental change and especially of the importance of lichen secondary compounds in photoprotection, light-screening and amelioration of the effects of changes in UVB consequent upon ozone depletion (Galloway 1993; Quilhot et al. 1994, 1998; Bjerke et al. 2003, 2005). (3) Lichens as nitrogenfixers. Diazotrophic (nitrogen-fixing) lichens are of major importance in N-cycling in forest and grassland biomes (Galloway 1995) with 235 species in 41 genera being potential diazotrophs or biological fertilisers. (4) Lichens as sources of bioactive compounds having anti-microbial, anti-viral, cytotoxic, or anti-carcinogenic activity (Perry et al. 1999). (5) Use of lichens as monitors in environmental impact assessment (Seaward 2004) These and other avenues are exciting new directions, along with molecular approaches to systematics, for lichenology in the future in a New Zealand context.”
And in a final note he writes (Galloway 2007, Preface, page xx):
“With lichens now emerging as biomonitors of choice in studies of atmospheric and terrestrial pollution and of global environmental change, and considering their importance in nutrient cycling in forests and grasslands and their potential value in habitat restoration studies, it is rapidly becoming clear just how important lichens really are in our New Zealand landscape (Galloway 2004…).”
2008 – 2014
David ‘retired’ in 2008 but continued working with Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua as a Research Associate. In this capacity he worked on corrections, changes, and additions to the
Lichen Flora, the lichen bibliography, name updates, checklists, and an updated key to the
genera, with the aim of making this information available as part of the eFlora, with production scheduled for later in 2015. To these already significant contributions, add his commitment to the Hewitson Library at Knox College through his presidency of the Knox College Library from 2008; his considerable involvement with various symposia and conferences, not least those focusing on Carl Linnaeus (August 2007), Charles Darwin (September 2009), John Buchanan (November 2012) and Fred Acharius (August 2013); and the many talks, discussions, and field excursions that David was well known and valued for.
In closing, we remember David through the words of his friend and fellow lichenologist, Gintaras Kantvilas, Curator of the Tasmanian Herbarium, Australia, which were spoken at the Celebration of David’s life on 28 February 2015: “David Galloway was a remarkable lichenologist. His is such a legacy that it seems inconceivable that it will ever be matched. His Floras are amongst the first publications that I consult. Thanks to his efforts, the New Zealand lichen flora is as well documented as any other. He personally named scores of new species, and clarified the nomenclature of probably hundreds. There is no doubt that were it not for David, Australasia would not have played the prominent role that it has done in the world-wide resurgence of lichenology.”
In death, your legacy lives on, David.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the many people who have expressed both their reverence for David Galloway’s contributions to lichenology and also the gap his death has left in their lives. We would like to thank Peter Johnson (Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua) for the use of his photograph of David; Gintaras Kantvilas (Tasmanian Herbarium) for his permission to quote from his February 2015 eulogy for David; and Sue Gibb and Jerry Cooper (Landcare Research – Manaaki Whenua) for their help in assembling Appendix I and Appendix II respectively.
Professor Katharine J.M. Dickinson
Department of Botany, University of Otago
Dr Ilse Breitwieser
Portfolio Leader, Defining Land Biota, Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua
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Lodged on website on Monday, 6 July 2015.