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President's News
UCC renames ERI building in honour of botanist Ellen Hutchins
On September 21st, UCC announced that the Environment Research Institute building on the Lee Road will be named in honour of botanist and Cork woman Ellen Hutchins. This is the second building at UCC to bear the name of a female pioneer. The naming of the Ellen Hutchins building recognises her extraordinary contributions and immortalises her indefatigable spirit as we work towards reflecting the breadth of people who have shaped our university where an ever-increasing proportion of total enrolment is female.
Widely recognised as Ireland’s first female botanist, Ellen Hutchins overcame a series of challenges in her personal life to identify several previously unknown species of plants, in and around her native Bantry Bay. She applied herself to the study of a particularly difficult branch of botany - the non-flowering plants - seaweeds, lichens, mosses and liverworts. She also produced a list of all the plants she could find in her neighbourhood, which amounted to over one thousand plants. This would be the first proper account of West Cork’s Flora.
Ellen found at least 20 species that were new to science or new to Ireland and made a significant contribution to the understanding of non-flowering plants, especially seaweeds. She also produced hundreds of exquisitely detailed watercolour drawings of seaweeds. Her achievements are all the more impressive when we consider that she suffered from periods of ill-health throughout her life and had extensive caring responsibilities at home. Ellen died just before her 30th birthday. Her legacy includes ten plants which have been named after her, such as the moss Ulota hutchinsiae (Hutchins’ Pincushion), in recognition of the importance of her botanical studies.
We are delighted to make this announcement, and to give Ellen Hutchins the recognition her pioneering work so richly deserves. Her spirit of inquisitiveness and love for her natural environment inspires us all. While the symbolism of this honour is important, it is equally crucial that our work aspires to continue Ellen’s legacy. Here at UCC we are committed to matching this through our UCC Futures and Sustainable Futures projects, which will deliver cross-disciplinary solutions to the great environmental challenges of our time.
- Professor John O'Halloran, President of UCC