OBITUARIES

Marilyn Griffith

Marilyn Griffith

Marilyn Griffith, a member of both ASPB and the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists (CSPP), died suddenly on February 19, 2005, due to complications arising from a stroke. Marilyn gained international recognition for her research on cold hardiness in plants, particularly in winter rye and more recently in Thellungiella. Her discovery of plant antifreeze proteins led to successful collaborations with scientists in many disciplines. The focus and integrity she brought to her work resulted in a collection of highly cited publications and a cadre of highly trained students and postdoctoral fellows. Her colleagues respected her knowledgeable, honest, and principled opinions. Marilyn will be greatly missed, especially by CSPP, which benefited from her enthusiasm and commitment to research in plant biology.

Born in 1953, Marilyn received a B.A. in 1975 from Mount Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, a master’s degree in forestry science from Yale University in 1977, and a Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of Minnesota in 1981. She was a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, in 1981–1982, and afterward joined Norm Huner as a postdoctoral fellow in the

Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Western Ontario, where she worked from 1982 to 1984. It seemed that Marilyn’s professional training was on a northern trajectory, especially for the next step in her career. From 1984 to 1987, she served as assistant professor at the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station at the University of Alaska–Fairbanks. In 1987, she moved south to become an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo, where she was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 1994 and later to full professor in 2000. In 2003, she was recognized as a Killam Research Fellow, a prestigious title she held at the time of her death.

Marilyn will be remembered as an outstanding and creative scientist. She authored or coauthored more than 80 research publications; her innovative research led to four patents relating to cold tolerance of plants, and she was the founder and a member of the board of directors of Ice Biotech, Inc. She enjoyed many active roles in the plant biology community, and her expertise and insight were much sought after. She served on the Grant Selection Committee in Plant Biology, NSERC (2000–2003); as associate editor, Canadian Journal of Botany (2005); subject editor, Physiologia Plantarum (1998–2001); minireview editor, Physiologia Plantarum (1995–2005); eastern regional director, CSPP (1994–1996); and senior director, CSPP (2003– 2005). She mentored many postdoctoral fellows and graduate and undergraduate students over the years, and she hosted several visiting scientists who came to share their ideas and passion for research on the mechanisms of freezing tolerance in plants. Numerous German undergraduate students visited her lab for six-month research terms, where they were exposed to her enthusiasm and high standards for science. She strongly promoted female scientists and worked hard to see women recognized for their scientific achievements. One of Marilyn’s outstanding skills was her ability to draw others toward her exciting work and foster a synergistic environment that made her a great collaborator and catalyst for innovative projects.

Colleagues who worked closely with Marilyn would agree that she seldom fit her research data to existing paradigms; she sought new hypotheses to help explain her observations, and at times her work was viewed with skepticism. However, Marilyn’s ability to devise new hypotheses was a talent that made her the exceptional scientist she was. Nothing would make her happier than to see her work subjected to the same scrutiny that she felt all scientific endeavors should withstand. She has left a rich legacy of scientific data and no doubt would have continued to do so had fate not deprived us so soon of a scientist of great intellect and creativity.

On a more personal note, many of us will remember Marilyn by her infectious, distinctive giggle; a smaller, perhaps “privileged,” group also will have sampled her exceptional home-baked cookies. Still others will have fond memories of the woman who shared her time to help neighbors, friends, and colleagues with everything from gardening to shoveling snow. She is survived by Tim Thorne, her husband of 21 years; her parents; and her brother and sister.

Elizabeth Weretilnyk
McMaster University

Barbara Moffatt
University of Waterloo

This article is adapted from the CSPP/SCPV Bulletin and is used with permission from the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists