Department of History
Meg Burgess
Thesis
Women and scientific subcultures in British mycology 1896-1948
Supervisors: Sabine Clarke and Nathan Smith
Research
My research investigates the role of women in the development of modern British mycology and their impact on our understanding of how new scientific disciplines were established in an age of profound social change for women. I am specifically interested in the social networks connected to the professional mycological world. Feelings of comradeship between women enhanced precarious positions in professional science. These social and scientific networks provide insights into cohesive demographics of middle class women and men that not only represented but actively supported the ideas of first-wave feminism and the suffrage movement. As a result, my PhD asks why the social culture of mycology was attractive for so many women seeking formal research opportunities.
This is a collaborative doctoral project between the Department of History & Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
