Professor Mary Gibby OBE FLS FRSE (27 February 1949 – 17 July 2024) was a British botanist, pteridologist and cytologist.
Gibby was born on 27 February 1949 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire,[1]: 1 to Edgar and Sheila Ambrose (née Bickerton).
[1]: 1 Gibby studied botany at the University of Leeds under Irene Manton and John Lovis, graduating with a first-class degree in 1971.
The NHM was still predominantly staffed by male scientists often without PhDs; Gibby recalled being asked if she would prefer to be called Mrs or Miss during one interview, replying 'Doctor will do'.
[4] Gibby's research on Dryopteris continued into the late 1980s but after attending a conference in the United States in 1991, she became more focused on Pelargonium, the filmy fern (Trichomanes speciosum), and European and Macaronesian Asplenium.
[1]: 2 She began using enzyme electrophoresis and chloroplast DNA sequencing to discover biogeographical patterns that allowed links between plant species to be confirmed or rejected much more easily.
[11] Gibby retired in 2012 but continued to work at the NHM London and RBGE as a research associate, collections curator and teacher.