Henning Eiler Petersen


Henning Eiler Petersen was a Danish mycologist, botanist and marine biologist. He made a major contribution to unveiling the mysterious die-back of eel grass in Northern European waters in the early 20th century as a pathogen outbreak.
Petersen's main research was in what was then known as lower fungiChytridiomycota and Oomycetes, but he also studied the systematics of Red algae. Parallel to these lines of research, he investigated the intraspecific morphological variation in plant species – which would today be called quantitative genetics.
The Oomycete genus Petersenia is named to his honour.

Selected scientific bibliography