Gustaf Lagerheim

After graduating from Uppsala University in 1885 Lagerheim was appointed assistant in the botanical department of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, where he specialised in freshwater algae and rust fungi. ==Pollen analysis pioneer==

While curator at the museum (1893–1907) Lagerheim investigated fossil pollen in peat cores from Uppland iron-age sites. In a 1902 paper he plotted percentage curves of spruce and alder pollen versus depth—an idea taken up by his student Ernst Post and now regarded as the first true pollen diagram, laying a foundation for modern Quaternary palaeoecology. ==Academic posts and legacy==

In 1907 he became professor of botany at the newly established Royal Swedish Agricultural College in Stockholm, restructuring the curriculum to include plant pathology and mycology for agronomists. He described more than 200 algal species. The green-algal genera Lagerheimia (1895) and Lagerheimiella (1940) commemorate his contributions. At his death in 1926 the Nationalmuseum catalogue credited him with 175 publications spanning botany, mycology, phycology and palaeoecology. ==References==