Charles Fleming (ornithologist)

For other men of the same name, see Charles Fleming.

Sir Charles Fleming
KBE, FRS FRSNZ FRAOU
Born(1916-09-09)9 September 1916
Auckland, New Zealand[1]
Died11 September 1987(1987-09-11) (aged 71)
Wellington, New Zealand[2]
EducationUniversity of Auckland
OccupationOrnithologist
SpousePeg Chambers[1]
Children3, including Jean Fleming
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Scientific career
FieldsOrnithology

Sir Charles Alexander Fleming KBE FRS FRSNZ FRAOU[1][3] (9 September 1916 – 11 September 1987) was a New Zealand geologist, ornithologist, molluscan palaeontologist and environmentalist. He spent the last twenty years of his life studying the evolution and systematics of New Zealand cicadas.[4][5]

Fleming was a Coastwatcher on the Cape Expedition in the Auckland Islands from 1942-1943 during World War II.[6][7] Fleming graduated from the University of Auckland in 1952 with a doctoral thesis on the geology of Whanganui.[8][9]

He was active in the Save Manapouri Campaign, was a spokesperson for Native Forest Action Council and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1973.[10] In 1974 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union.[citation needed] He was also trustee of the Ngā Manu Nature Reserve.[11]

In 1988 the Royal Society of New Zealand established the Charles Fleming Award which is awarded to individuals who have achieved distinction in the protection, maintenance, management, improvement, or understanding of the environment.

In 1997, Trevor H. Worthy commemorated Charles Fleming in the species' epithet of the prehistoric rail Pleistorallus flemingi from the mid-Pleistocene of New Zealand.

In the 1964 New Year Honours, Fleming was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[12] He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1977 New Year Honours, for services to science and conservation.[13]

Charles Fleming was married to Margaret Alison Fleming (nee Chambers) from 1941 until his death in 1987, and they had three daughters, Robin Fleming, Winifred Mary McEwen and Jean Fleming. In 2012 the Charles Fleming Retirement Village was named after Fleming. The name of the village was unveiled by two of his daughters.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Matthews, Richard Ellis Ford (1988). "Charles Alexander Fleming. 9 September 1916-11 September 1987". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 34: 178–203. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1988.0007. JSTOR 770050.
  2. ^ Dell, R. K. "Fleming, Charles Alexander". Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ "RAOU Fellow: Citation – Charles Alexander Fleming, FRS, OBE". Emu. 74 (4): 259. 1974. Bibcode:1974EmuAO..74..259.. doi:10.1071/MU974259a.
  4. ^ Turbott, E. G. (1988). "Obituary. Charles Alexander Fleming, 1916-1987". Emu. 88 (4): 269. doi:10.1071/MU9880269.
  5. ^ Mary McEwen (2005). Charles Fleming, Environmental Patriot: A Biography. Craig Potton Publishing. ISBN 1-877333-23-9.
  6. ^ McEwen, Winifred Mary; Fleming, Charles Alexander (1 January 2006). Charles Fleming's Cape Expedition Diary: Auckland Islands 1942-43. ISBN 978-0-473-11384-1.
  7. ^ "Charles Alexander Fleming. 9 September 1916-11 September 1987". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  8. ^ Fleming, C. (1951). The Geology of Wanganui Subdivision (comprising Sheets N 137 (Waverley) and N 138 (Wanganui) of the Provisional 1 Mile Series ) (Doctoral thesis). ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland. hdl:2292/56208.
  9. ^ "NZ University Graduates 1870-1961". shadowsoftime.co.nz. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  10. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  11. ^ a b MAXWELL, JOEL (31 May 2012). "Retirement village named after naturalist". Stuff. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  12. ^ "No. 43202". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 1 January 1964. p. 40.
  13. ^ "No. 47104". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 31 December 1976. p. 42.

Further reading

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