Hugh Synge (1951-2018) was an English botanist of Anglo-Irish descent who championed

endangered plants In September 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed 3654 endangered plant species. Of all evaluated plant species, 17% are listed as endangered. The IUCN also lists 99 subspecies and 101 varieties as endangered. ...

. In 2007, he was voted one of the 20 most influential British conservationists by ''

BBC Wildlife ''BBC Wildlife'' is a British glossy, all-colour magazine about wildlife, operated and published by Immediate Media Company. It produces 13 issues a year. ''BBC Wildlife'' was launched in January 1963 as ''Animals Magazine'', edited by filmmaker ...

'' readers. Synge attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, which he disliked, and then studied

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

Wye College The College of St Gregory and St Martin at Wye, commonly known as Wye College, was an education and research institution in the village of Wye, Kent. In 1447, Cardinal (Catholic Church), Cardinal John Kempe founded his chantry there which also ...

from where he volunteered then joined the staff of

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

. He was founder and editor of ''Plant Talk'' magazine and wrote Kew's ''Threatened Plants'' newsletter. With fellow Kew conservationist Ronald Melville, Synge created an early threatened plants database which was taken up by the

World Conservation Monitoring Centre The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the specialist biodiversity centre of UN Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UNEP-WCMC has been part of UN Environment Programme since 20 ...

. He was co-founder of charity

Plantlife Plantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. , it manages 24 nature reserves around the United Kingdom. HM King Charles III is patron of the charity. History Plantlife was founded in 1989. Its first president was Professor David Bellamy ...

; a consultant to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, and later ran a community

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

business in Tisbury. Synge's father was journal editor and plant collector Patrick Millington Synge, and mother, singer Margaret Georgiana Chenevix Trench. His father's cousin was Irish playwright and poet J M Synge.

References

1951 births 2018 deaths English botanists English botanical writers People educated at Rugby School English people of Irish descent People from Woking Deaths from bone cancer Alumni of Wye College

Hugh Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

Botanists active in Kew Gardens {{England-botanist-stub

Further reading

References