Else Marie Friis
Else Marie Friis | |
---|---|
Born | Holstebro, Denmark | 18 June 1947
Nationality | Denmark |
Known for | Palaeoecology |
Scientific career | |
Fields | botany, paleontology |
Thesis | Microcarpological Studies of Middle Miocene Floras of Western Denmark |
Author abbrev. (botany) | E.M.Friis |
Else Marie Friis (born 18 June 1947) is a Danish botanist and paleontologist.[1] She is Professor Emerita in the Department of Geoscience at Aarhus University.[2] Her work has been fundamental in the phylogenetic analysis of angiosperms, with widespread application to reproductive biology.[3]
Education and early life[]
The daughter of a bookseller Poul Friis and Marie Møller, she was born in Holstebro, and grew up in Skive, graduating from local school Viborg Katedralskole in 1966. She worked as an au-pair in Paris for a year, becoming interested in geology whilst her brother Henrik was a student in the subject. This inspired her to become an assistant teacher in botany and geology in 1971.[1]
In 1975 she earned a Magister's degree in science and in 1980 a Licentiate's degree in science, both from Aarhus University.
Research and career[]
Her area of interest is the reproductive biology, phylogeny and palaeoecology of flowering plants based on plant reproductive organs from the Cretaceous period.[1][4]
Early on in her career she began research into lignite, being involved in fieldwork in the lignite mines in Central Jutland from 1968-1972. She was interested in the ecology and climate of Denmark in the middle Miocene, writing her Licentiate thesis on the subject.[5]
From 1980-1981 she moved to London as a British Council Research Scholar, switching research interests following the co-discovery with Swedish scientist of rare fossilised flowers from the Cretaceous period.[6]
She returned to Aarhus University in 1981, co-publishing a book "The Origins of Angiosperms and Their Biological Consequences"[7] in 1987. She became the head of palaeobotany at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm later that year.[3]
In 1999 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University, and has been a visiting professor at Zurich University.[8]
Awards and Associations[]
Friis is a member of the:
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
- Royal Swedish Academy of Science
- Royal Physiographic Society in Lund, Sweden
- Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
- Chinese Academy of Sciences[4]
and a
- Foreign Member of the Royal Society[3]
She has received the:
- Hans Gram Medal from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1985
- Nils Rosén Linné Prize in botany from the Royal Physiographic Society, Sweden in 1992
- Rolf Dahlgren Prize in botany from the Royal Physiographic Society, Sweden in 2005
- Denmark's Geology Prize 2011 with Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
- Linneus gold medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2014
- Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Polar Star
In addition, she was named Geologist of the year in 2005 by the Swedish Association of Scientists.[4]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Else Marie Friis (1947 - )". Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon (in Danish).
- ^ "Else Marie Friis - Research - Aarhus University". pure.au.dk. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Else Marie Friis | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Else Marie Friis". Swedish Museum of Natural History.
- ^ Friis, Else Marie (1980). Microcarpological studies of middle miocene floras of Western Denmark. Aarhus Universitet, Det Naturvidenskabelige Fakultet. ISBN 9780521323574. OCLC 873194510.
- ^ Friis, E. M.; Skarby, A. (June 1981). "Structurally preserved angiosperm flowers from the Upper Cretaceous of southern Sweden". Nature. 291 (5815): 484–486. doi:10.1038/291484a0. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4270901.
- ^ Lemoigne, Yves (January 1988). "The origins of angiosperms and their biological consequences". Geobios. 21 (1): 117. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(88)80037-8. ISSN 0016-6995.
- ^ System. "Else Marie Friis - Naturhistoriska riksmuseet". www.nrm.se. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
- 1947 births
- Living people
- People from Holstebro Municipality
- Danish botanists
- Danish paleontologists
- Aarhus University alumni
- Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
- Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
- Members of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund
- Knights First Class of the Order of the Polar Star
- Foreign Members of the Royal Society