Alick Lindsay Poole (4 March 1908 – 2 January 2008) was a New Zealand botanist and forester.

Academic career

Poole started at the New Zealand State Forest Service 1926, then to

Auckland University College The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loca ...

on a scholarship. After various jobs during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, he joined the Botany Division of the DSIR in 1937. He enlisted in 1940, and spent the war at the Scientific Liaison Office in London. After the war he worked for the

British zone in Germany The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom, along with the Commonwealth, was one of the three major Allied po ...

gaining valuable experience. In 1947 he was appointed assistant director of the Botany Division of DSIR. Poole was deputy scientific leader and one of the botanists on the 1949

New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition The New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition was a research expedition organised by the Department of Internal Affairs in 1949 to undertake research into elk (wapiti) as well as other biodiversity, surveying and geology in the Fiordland Nation ...

.'''' In 1951 he was appointed assistant director of the

New Zealand Forest Service New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

and rose to Director-General, retiring in 1971. He was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

in 1962. In the

1971 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1971 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

, Poole was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to the development of forestry and the forest industries. He died in Wellington in 2008.

Selected works

* ''Trees and shrubs of New Zealand'' * ''Wild animals in New Zealand'' * ''The use of vegetation'' * ''Southern beeches'' * ''Forestry in New Zealand; the shaping of policy'' *

References

20th-century New Zealand botanists 1908 births 2008 deaths University of Auckland alumni New Zealand foresters Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand) New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{NewZealand-academic-bio-stub