Isabella Abbott
- Category : 1919-births
- Type : MGE
- Profile : 6/2 - Role Model / Hermit
- Definition : Single
- Incarnation Cross : LAX Education 1
Biography
American educator, phycologist, and ethnobotanist noted as the first native Hawaiian woman to receive a PhD in science; she became the leading expert on Pacific algae. She authored eight books and over 150 publications. She was considered the world's leading expert on Hawaiian seaweeds, known in the Hawaiian language as limu. She was credited with discovering over 200 species, with several named after her, including the Rhodomelaceae family (red algae) genus of Abbottella. This earned her the nickname "First Lady of Limu."
Her Hawaiian name means "white rain of Hana" and she was known as "Izzy". Her father was ethnically Chinese while her mother was a Native Hawaiian.
Isabella Kauakea Aiona Abbott died on 28 October 2010 at the age of 91 at her home in Honolulu.