Joy Tivy

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRSGS FIB (1924–1995) was a 20th century Irish physical geographer at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. She specialised in

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities o ...

and has been credited for having helped raise the profile of biogeography as a distinct sub-discipline of geography. She published over 40 papers, books and reports and she was often asked to advise government agencies and other organisations. She was a strong advocate of the importance of field studies for providing essential skills for geography graduates. Her capacity as a teacher was as highly regarded as her research — she was known to be enthusiastic and engaging to a wide range of audiences - a medal has been created by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in honour of her commitment to Geographical Education and Teaching.

Life

Joy Tivy was born in

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 24 August 1924. She commenced studies at the

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 1942 where she studied geography as her primary subject with

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

as her secondary areas. She excelled as an undergraduate most notably scoring highest in highly competitive exams in 1944, which granted her status as a Scholar. She graduated with first class honours in 1946 and after a brief period of teaching at the University of Leeds she accepted a position at the University of Edinburgh where she completed her doctorate. Her PhD thesis was entitled, ''A study of the effect of physical factors on the vegetation of hill grazings in selected areas of southern Scotland'', p. 55. In 1956 she moved to the University of Glasgow where she stayed for the rest of her career (she retired in 1989). She was the second female to be awarded at professorship at the University of Glasgow in 1976 and was head of the Department of Geography and Topographic Science. In 1984 she was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. Her proposers were John Lenihan, William Whigham Fletcher,

Donald Michie Donald Michie (; 11 November 1923 – 7 July 2007) was a British researcher in artificial intelligence. During World War II, Michie worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, contributing to the effort to solve " Tunny ...

, S. G. Checkland, Lord Cameron, and Wreford Watson. She was also elected a Fellow of the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societie ...

(FIB). Following retirement in 1984 she was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland, founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

(FRSGS). She was actively involved in the Scottish Field Studies Association, with 10 years as chairperson and served as the editor of ''Scottish Geographical Magazine'' for a decade. She died on 10 July 1995.

Recognition

The RSGS established the Joy Tivy Education Medal in her honour, which is awarded annually "in recognition of an outstanding contribution to geographical education".

Publications

These are some of her most notable books: * ''Agricultural Ecology''. Tivy, Joy. 1990. Longman Scientific and Technical. * ''Biogeography: A Study of Plants in the Ecosphere''. Tivy, Joy. 1993. Routledge. * ''Human Impact on the Ecosystem (Conceptual frameworks in geography)''. Tivy, Joy. O'Hare, G. 1982. Oliver & Boyd. * ''The Organic Resources of Scotland''. Tivy, Joy. 1973. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. * ''The Glasgow region: a general survey''. Eds. Ronald Miller and Joy Tivy. 1958. Edinburgh: T. & A. Constable. She has 33 papers listed on ISI Web of Science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tivy, Joy 1924 births 1995 deaths Scientists from County Carlow Irish geographers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of University College Dublin British women geographers Academics of the University of Glasgow Biogeographers 20th-century British women scientists Physical geographers 20th-century British geographers Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century Irish women scientists Academics of the University of Leeds