1866–1944.
Botanist.
Rutger Sernander became Associate professor in Plant Geography 1895 and later professor of plant biology from 1908 to 1931.
His research areas included plant spreading biology, lichen biology, forestry research, dendrology, archaeology as well as the development of the climate and plant world in Scandinavia after the ice ages.
Sernander was an internationally recognized scientist, and his works include The spreading biology of the Scandinavian Vegetation (1901) and the Zur Morphologie der Diasporen (1927).
Sernander also wrote about important sites from a natural and cultural point of view. In particular, Uppland and old Uppsala, Rickebasta swamps, Flottsund and also the publication about Uppsala Kungsäng that Gustav Sandberg completed and published.
Sernander conducted an intense fight to preserve unique plant communities, such as Fiby Forest and Uppsala Kungsäng. The Platform for the conservation work was the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, which Sernander was a co-founder of in 1909, and was its chairman from 1917–1930.
Professor Sernander with students before 1944, Uppsala University. Photo: Paul Sandberg / Upplandsmuseet.
Burial site: 0149-1955
Image description: Rutger Sernander, Uppsala ca 1895. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUB. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image