Coast & Countryside

Stan Hughes (one of the National Botanic Garden’s founder members) awarded top Canadian honour

The National Botanic Garden of Wales is delighted to hear that Welsh-Canadian Dr Stan Hughes, one of the Garden’s founder members and one of the world’s most eminent mycologists, had been made a Member of the Order of Canada - the highest civilian honour given to Canadians - for lifetime achievements.

The Garden can claim to have had a small, but significant role in this award, thanks to the actions of its library team.

Dr Hughes, now nearly 92 years old, was born in Llanelli, graduated from Aberystwyth, became a specialist in the taxonomy of microscopic fungi, but emigrated to follow his career as a mycologist in Canada, with the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Despite retiring in 1983, Dr Hughes is still an active researcher, so it was a (extraordinarily pleasant) surprise when he agreed to send his entire professional library - some 10,000 items forming a unique world-class collection - as a donation to the Garden’s library.

In April 2009, the Garden held the official opening of his library, and Dr Hughes returned to his native Wales with his wife, to attend a reception in his honour.

While preparing for this event, Margot Greer, the volunteer who has been co-ordinating the library at the Garden, herself a Canadian who emigrated to Wales in the 1970s, discovered that although Dr Hughes had won many honours in the mycological community, he had not been awarded the Order of Canada.

Confidential inquiries were made with colleagues in Ottawa, and the official nomination process was undertaken, resulting with this announcement on Canada Day, July 1, 2010 that Dr Hughes had been given the award "for his lifetime contribution to the field of mycology, particularly for his seminal work on the classification of various fungi and moulds, and for his mentoring of young scientists".

In telephone calls to Margot and others in Wales on the day of the announcement, Stan said "receiving the award was a tremendous honour but the 'icing on the cake' was knowing that the impetus for all this came from his homeland and the Botanic Garden".

The Garden is pleased that its role in supporting and championing mycology in Wales has indirectly brought about such a deserved award for one of its members.

We are also delighted to report that work has begun to make important items in his large collection freely available to researchers worldwide through a joint project between the Garden’s Conservation and Research Department and Cyberliber, an Electronic Library for Mycology.

Dr Hughes’ library catalogue is already available on Cyberliber, alerting researchers to its contents. We will now begin to link all items in his collection to the database, and to digitise rare and important documents so they will be electronically accessible to anyone anywhere working in this field.

Eleanor Jaskowska, a local girl from the nearby village of Llangadog and currently reading biology at Oxford University, is spending her summer as a volunteer at the Garden, working within the Conservation and Research Department.

Eleanor said: "I am thrilled to be part of the process that is making this important scientific resource available to scientists all over the world. The second book I scanned was in Russian, so it really is an international project."

Notes:

1. The Order of Canada is the centerpiece of Canada’s honours system and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. They are presented by the Governor General of Canada. Details at www.gg.ca
2. The Library at the National Botanic Garden of Wales is open to staff, and to visiting researchers by prior appointment. Contact Dr Natasha De Vere, Head of Conservation and Research, NBGW by phone 01558 667198 or by email to ndevere@gardenofwales.org.uk
3. CyberLiber, the Electronic Library for Mycology is on the web at www.cybertruffle.org.uk For further details, contact D.W. Minter, cyberlibrarian & webmaster using the contact link on the website.