The first native Hawaiian woman to earn a PhD in science

Isabella Aiona Abbott (1919 - 2010) was the first native Hawaiian woman to receive a PhD in science, specifically in botany from UC Berkeley in 1950. She went on to become a leading expert on ethnobotany and marine algae in the Pacific Ocean.

She was born in Hana, Maui, and grew up in Honolulu and received her undergraduate degree in botany from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa followed by a Master’s degree in the same topic at the University of Michigan. She spent part of her career researching and teaching at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station starting in 1966 and was directly promoted to full Professor in 1972. During her time in California, she was known for incorporating bull kelp from the coast into various foods.

Abbott eventually retired and moved back to Hawai’i where she researched ethnobotany (the study of how certain cultures and peoples interact with indigenous plants). During her career, she published over 150 journal articles and wrote eight books. Abbott was known for her expertise on Pacific algae, particularly Hawaiian seaweed ("limu" in Hawaiian) of which she helped discover more than 200 species. Because of this, she was nicknamed the "First Lady of Limu." (Source: Wikipedia)