Dr. Elisabeth (Beth) E. McIver

[Hugo Cota-Sanchez]

Dear Taxacomers,

It is with great sorrow that I inform to all of you that Dr.
Elisabeth (Beth) E. McIver passed away Sunday, April 1st. in her home
after losing the battle against cancer.  She was 59 years old.

Dr. McIver was an internationally recognized authority in the areas
of Paleofloristics and the origin and evolution of the Cupressaceae.
She was responsible of the discovery and description of a number of
extinct Cupressaceae and her synthesis of data from fossil and extant
data provided her with important insights into the evolutionary and
geographic history of the family.  During her career, Beth conducted
extensive research on the interpretation of paleoenvironments through
correlation of climate and plant morphology and diversity.  More
recently, her research focused on the study of the paleoenvironments
of the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex, in which she correlated terminal
Cretaceous dinosaurs with the vegetation they depended.  She used
fossil plants as a primary source of information on habitat and
climate to reconstruct the local paleoenvironments and understand the
extinction event.  This manuscript was submitted for publication only
two weeks before her death.

Dr. McIver held several academic positions.  From 1989-1991 she was
an NSERC Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Geological Survey of
Canada, Calgary, Alberta.  More recently, she was an Assistant
Professor of Plant Systematics in the Department of Biology
(1995-1999), and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geological
Sciences (from 1995) and Research Associate in the W. P. Fraser
Herbarium of the University of Saskatchewan.

During her extensive career, Dr. McIver authored over 17 scientific
articles in refereed journals and numerous reviews, and remained
committed to her science to the end.  She was also devoted to public
scientific education, including on-screen contributions to TV
documentaries, the most recent filmed by Cinenova Productions
(Discovery Channel) only two months before her death.

We all have lost a wonderful friend and colleague too soon.  Her
passion for nature, endless energy, enthusiasm and profound
commitment to scientific research on paleobotany, particularly the
paleoflora of North America will be deeply missed.

Beth is survived by her husband Jim Basinger; daughter Tara Vincent
(Danny Remenda), sons Jay Vincent and Jeff (Lean Anne), stepdaughter
Claire Basinger, grandson Nicholas Remenda; sisters Sharon McIver De
Bruyn, Carol (Bill) Bursell, Mary (Russ) Rodman; brothers Wendy
(David) McIver, Calvin (Vicky) McIver, Roger (Beverly) McIver, Jon
(Dianne) McIver, and Dan (Evelyn) McIver.

Memorial services to celebrate Beth's life will be held on Saturday,
April 7 at 3:00 pm. in the Geology Atrium located in the Geology
Building of the University of Saskatchewan.

In lieu of floral offerings, the family has requested that donations
in her memory be made to the Saskatoon Cancer Centre, 20 Campus
Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 4H4.

Letters of condolence may be sent to:

Dr. Jim Basinger (email: jim.basinger at usask.ca)
1702 14th. St. E.
Saskatoon, SK S7H 0B1
Canada
--
J. Hugo Cota-Sanchez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Curator
Department of Biology and Plant Sciences
University of Saskatchewan
112 Science Place
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2 - Canada
Tel. (306) 966-4405 (office); 966-4440 (Lab)
Fax: (306) 966-4461
Email: hugo.cota at usask.ca
Web: http://www.usask.ca/agriculture/plantsci/herbarium/