Valerie May (8 May 1916 – 27 June 2007) was an Australian phycologist, a pioneer and noted expert on toxic algae and water quality, and an interdisciplinary scientist who undertook algal ecology studies in Australia.
During her Master's degree she had reviewed and assembled information from previous studies on algae, making this prior literature much more accessible.
The topics were the life history of Ectocarpus and developing keys to the green and brown marine algae.
The almost complete absence of phycology from academic study in Australia gave this work added significance.
[3] During World War II, CSIRO was tasked to develop industrial-level agar production and she worked on identifying and cataloguing large marine algae that could be used as a source.
[4] The industry ended after the war due to decline in availability of suitable seaweed and also reduced demand.
eds Wayne W. Carmichael, SpringerLink pp 127–142 May, Valerie, Bennett, Isobel & T. E. Thompson (1970) Herbivore-Algal relationships on a coastal rock platform (Cape Banks, N.S.W.)