Isabella Aiona Abbot, born June 20, 1919 in Hana, Maui in Hawai'ian Territory, became the first Native Hawai'ian to receive a PhD in science. Growing up, her mother taught her about edible Hawai'ian seaweeds and native plants.
She received her undergraduate degree in Botany at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa in 1941, a MS in botany from the University of Michigan in 1942, and a PhD in botany from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950, becoming the first native Hawai'ian to receive a Doctor of Philosophy.
She became a leading expert on Pacific marine algae, and in 1972, Stanford University promoted her to full professor of Biology, the first woman and first person of color to hold this position. She authored eight books and more than 150 publications. She is credited with discovering over 200 species, and several are named after her.
She passed away in August 2008 in Honolulu.
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