25 Facts About Margaret Newton

Margaret Brown Newton was a Canadian plant pathologist and mycologist internationally renowned for her pioneering research in stem rust Puccinia graminis, particularly for its effect on the staple Canadian agricultural product wheat.

Margaret Newton was born in Montreal on 20 April 1887 to John Margaret Newton and Elizabeth Brown.

Margaret Newton had four younger siblings, three brothers named Robert, John, and William, and a sister named Dorothy.

Margaret Newton's father was a chemist interested in the application of science to farming.

Margaret Newton then moved to Vankleek Hill in Ontario, continuing her education at Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute before completing her teacher training at the Toronto Normal School.

Margaret Newton then taught in Lachine for three years, and at the North Nation Mills schoolhouse for one year.

Passionate about art, Margaret Newton enrolled in an Arts program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, completing one year of studies before returning to Montreal, where she enrolled in an agricultural program at Macdonald College.

Margaret Newton was a member of the debating society, and president of the literary society for one year.

Margaret Newton assigned Newton to study the samples he collected, who accepted only after the school's dean eliminated restrictions on women using laboratory facilities at night; she still had to contend with the 22:00 curfew of her residence.

Margaret Newton did this by spending six months in Minnesota, then six months in Saskatoon.

Margaret Newton was appointed the laboratory's senior plant pathologist, a position she maintained until retirement, and brought with her former student Thorvaldur Johnson as her research assistant.

Margaret Newton established an annual stem rust survey in Western Canada, discovering a diversity of races in rust populations, which eventually enabled her to discover and catalogue the wheat species and cross-species resistant to stem rust.

Margaret Newton published 45 scientific papers on stem rust fungi and 11 research summaries.

Margaret Newton identified physiologically distinct races of Puccinia graminis and focused on determining their genetic structure, physiology, origin, and life cycle.

Margaret Newton investigated stripe rust on wheat and barley and wheat leaf rust, and the environmental factors on disease expression in wheat plants.

Margaret Newton researched the genetic structure of wheat rust pathogens.

Margaret Newton was by this time internationally regarded as an authority on plant rusts, and represented Canada at scientific conventions in the United States, Europe, and Russia.

Margaret Newton's research was economically significant, as it was used to develop rust-resistant wheat cultivars and resulted in a "reduction of annual losses of wheat due to rust from 30 million bushels to practically none".

Margaret Newton was there for three months, during which she enjoyed a privileged status similar to a Russian official, and was shown every phase of plant research conducted at the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Margaret Newton's continued exposure to stem rust spores exacerbated a respiratory ailment, which would lead to an early retirement in 1945 and a move to Victoria.

Margaret Newton became active in women's groups and tended a garden at her home, and had active hobbies including birdwatching and canoeing.

Margaret Newton was awarded the Flavelle Medal from the Royal Society of Canada in 1948, the first person to graduate from an agricultural college to receive the award, and the only woman to have earned that distinction.

Margaret Newton was inducted to the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in 1991.

Margaret Newton's research is depicted in the poster gallery created by Ingenium Canada's The Women in STEM initiative.

Margaret Newton is recognized as a Women of Impact in Canada for her scientific contributions as a woman in STEM.