Raymond Robert Forster (19 June 1922 – 1 July 2000) was a New Zealand

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

and museum director. He was a Fellow of The Entomological Society of New Zealand.

Biography

Forster was born in

Hastings, New Zealand Hastings (; , ) is an inland city of New Zealand and is one of the two major urban areas of New Zealand, urban areas in Hawke's Bay Region, Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. The population of Hastings (including Flaxmere) is ...

in 1922, and was educated at Victoria University College, gaining BSc, MSc(Hons) and DSc degrees. Forster was an

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

at the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

from 1940 to 1947, with an interruption for military service during World War II. Between 1942 and 1945 he served first in the army and then as a naval radar mechanic.Ray Forster obituary
. International Society of Arachnology. Retrieved 14 February 2013. He was appointed zoologist and assistant director at Canterbury Museum in 1948. Forster was one of the zoologists studying invertebrates on the 1949 New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition.'''' He was a marine biologist on the 1954 Chatham Islands expedition. In 1957, Forster moved to

Otago Museum Otago (, ; ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government region. Its po ...

to take up the position of director. He retired from that role in 1987. Forster wrote his first paper on spiders at the age of 17. Over the course of his career, more than 100 scientific papers and volumes were published bearing his name, including the definitive six-volume ''Spiders of New Zealand'', in co-authorship with international colleagues. He also published ''Small Land Animals'' and co-authored ''NZ Spiders, An Introduction''. Much of his work was accomplished in collaboration with his wife, Lyn Forster, a notable New Zealand arachnologist. He researched and classified many of New Zealand's thousands of native spiders, and was responsible for establishing

's spider collection. Forster died in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

in 2000.

Honours

In 1961, Forster was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

, and received two of that society's honours: the Hutton Medal in 1971; and the

Hector Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different science ...

in 1983. The

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

honoured Forster with the award of the degree of Doctor of Science, ''honoris causa'', in 1978. Forster was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal () is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is physically identical in all realms where it was awarded, save for Canada ...

in 1977, and was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services in the

1984 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1984 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countri ...

. Forster was also elected a Fellow of the Entomological Society of New Zealand.

Honorific eponym

A small valley in

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

, Forster Burn, is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Ray 1922 births 2000 deaths New Zealand arachnologists Victoria University of Wellington alumni Companions of the Queen's Service Order People from Hastings, New Zealand Directors of museums in New Zealand Royal New Zealand Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century New Zealand zoologists People associated with Otago Museum New Zealand military personnel of World War II People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Fellows of the Entomological Society of New Zealand