John Errol Chandos Aberdeen

John Errol Chandos Aberdeen (April 27, 1913 – June 17, 1996) was an Australian botanist, mycologist and agricultural scientist.

Amongst his family he was known as Errol but from his schooldays onwards he was known as Jack. In 1926 Aberdeen attended the Church of England Grammar School in Brisbane where his academic studies resulted in him being named Dux of the school in 1931. In Australia Dux is the title given to the highest ranking student in academic, sporting or artistic achievement in each graduating year and can lead to university scholarships, which it indeed did for Aberdeen. He was awarded a scholarship to the University of Queensland and whilst he no doubt achieved this merit based on his academic performance he was also an avid cricketer, rugby player and school tennis champion for several years. and joined the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock where he was appointed to the Plant Pathology Branch and worked on vegetable diseases. The department was focused heavily on tackling pest and disease problems most likely to impact agricultural production in Queensland and Aberdeen contributed greatly towards this goal, especially with his work on tomato crops. On 6 March 1947, Major John Errol Chandos Aberdeen was mentioned in dispatches in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette and London Gazette for distinguished services in the South-West Pacific area.

After the war Aberdeen returned to the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock and continued his research into tomato diseases. In 1948 he was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Botany at the University of Queensland where he conducted research into rhizosphere fungi. On 5 May 1950, he was awarded the degree of Master of Agricultural Science and on 13 November 1958, he earned the award of Doctor of Philosophy for his work with fungi. 1949. Investigations on the phytotoxicity of Bordeaux mixture (4.4.40) with special reference to tomatoes. University of Queensland. 1954. Can I eat that toadstool? Queensland Naturalist. 1955. Quantitative methods for estimating the distribution of soil fungi. University of Queensland. 1956. Factors influencing the distribution of the fungi on plant roots. University of Queensland. 1958. Quantitative studies on the effects of a number of factors which influence the distribution of fungi in soil and rhizospheres. University of Queensland. 1958. A hallucinogenic toadstool. Australian Journal of Science vol. 21:149. 1962. Notes on Australian Lepiota in the Kew Herbarium. Kew Bulletin. 16(1). 1974. Larger Fungi: Hobby and Research. Queensland Naturalist. 1976. Common Queensland Mushrooms. Queensland Agricultural Journal. 1979. An introduction to the mushrooms, toadstools and larger fungi of Queensland. Queensland Naturalists' Club. 1992. Lepiotoid genera (Agaricales) in South-Eastern Queensland.