Nancy Adams

Nancy Adams was born in Levin in 1926, the daughter of Jessie Whittaker and her husband, Kenneth Ernest Adams (grandson of early amateur botanist James Adams.)

Adams' parents separated while she was still young and she grew up in Wellington with her maternal grandparents, the proprietors of the Whittaker's chocolate company. From early in her life Adams displayed a strong interest in both plants and drawing: ‘Right from the time I was very small, I knew somebody did the plant drawings in books. That’s what I wanted to do.’

Her interest was fostered at primary school, where her principal William Martin was an amateur botanist who taught students to draw from nature and took them on trips at Wellington Botanical Gardens. Adams attended Wellington Girls' College and Victoria University College, studying zoology and botany.

Due to ill health, Adams did not complete her university studies. However, at 16 she joined the Botany division of New Zealand's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR): the department was looking for staff to replace men serving in World War II. She worked there until 1959, when she was appointed to the Dominion Museum (now the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) as assistant Curator of Botany with a special responsibility for algae. She retired from her position at the museum in 1987 but continued to be an Honorary Research Associate of the Museum.

Adams was a prolific artist, illustrating nearly forty publications on native plants, alpine life, trees and shrubs. Included in these publications is an article written by Ella Orr Campbell, a fellow New Zealander, for whom Adams drew Thallus of Marchasta bearing archegoniophores. She received international recognition for her detailed and delicate algal illustrations.

Awards included the Loder Cup in 1964, and the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. She was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services in the 1989 New Year Honours, and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to botany, in the 1996 New Year Honours. In 1994, she received an award for her work Seaweeds of New Zealand: An Illustrated Guide, which held a description of 600 different plant species and illustrating 441. She is a Royal Society Te Apārangi 150 women in 150 words laureate.

The following botanical taxa have been named after Nancy Adams:

• Adamsiella - a genus of red algae
• Lessonia adamsiae a species of brown algae
• Nancythalia - a genus of red algae

• Trees and shrubs of New Zealand, by A. L. Poole and Nancy M. Adams, 1963
• Mountain Flowers in New Zealand, 1980
• Wild Flowers in New Zealand, 1980
• Seaweeds of New Zealand: An illustrated guide, 1994