Kathleen "Kay" Margaret Cole (1924, Vancouver – 12 April 2003, Vancouver) was a Canadian phycologist, known as one of the world's leading experts in the cytology of marine algae. In 1998 the Canadian Botanical Society awarded her the George Lawson Medal for lifetime achievement.
Biography After her early childhood years in Wells, British Columbia, Kathleen Margaret Cole moved with her family to West Vancouver. She graduated in biology with a B.A. in 1947 and an M.A. in 1948 from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her M.A. thesis is entitled A study of a possible new mutation, synpalpi, occurring in Drosophila melanogaster. She matriculated as a graduate student in genetics at Smith College. There she completed her Ph.D. in plant genetics under the supervision of Albert F. Blakeslee in 1952. Her Ph.D. dissertation investigated the genetics of the invasive weed Datura stramonium.
Kathleen M. Cole spent her career at UBC. She joined the department of biology and botany in 1952 as a lecturer and was eventually promoted to full professor. During the late 1950s, she spent one summer at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories. There she used cytological techniques to experiment on marine algae. This research established the focus of the remainder of her career and her work with her graduate students and other collaborators.
From 1972 to 1977, Cole was an editor for the journal Phycologia. She was the co-editor with Robert G. Sheath of the 1990 book Biology of the Red Algae. The book is an authoritative reference and survey of research from 1973 to 1989 on the phylum Rhodophyta and was reissued in 2011.
Cole was an established contralto singer. During her years as a UBC student, she performed in many concerts, and on radio broadcasts in Vancouver. As a UBC faculty member, she was active in the university's Music Society.
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