Carol Ellison obituary

My colleague and friend Carol Ellison, who has died of cancer aged 58, was a scientist in the field of biological control of invasive species. This is a little-known but increasingly important tool in the management of alien weeds which, if unchecked, can destabilise ecosystems and constrain agriculture.

Born in Croydon, south London, to Edward Ellison, a toolmaker, and his wife, Valerie (nee Rickard), Carol was a committed environmentalist from an early age. She graduated in biological sciences from the University of East Anglia and subsequently registered for an MSc in pest management at Imperial College London, during which she worked with me in Kenya as part of her thesis investigating the potential of fungal pathogens for the control of African grasses.