Mavis Melville Davidson

Mavis Melville Davidson (née Gedye; 10 February 1910 – 27 May 2004) was a New Zealand zoologist, biologist and mountaineer.

Biography Davidson was born in Te Karaka, Poverty Bay, the seventh of nine children of Thomas James and Dagmar Martha Melville Gedye (née Hansen).

Davidson studied at Victoria University College and graduated with a master's degree in zoology in 1950, specialising in forestry and deer ecology. She worked in the zoology department at Victoria as a demonstrator and junior lecturer between 1946 and 1950, then in 1958 Davidson was appointed a biologist with the New Zealand Forest Service. She initially worked on red deer, then later moved on to study sika deer in the Kaimanawa and Kaweka Ranges of the central North Island. She also received a gold badge of honour from the Internationale Gessellschaft Sikawild (International Sika Society) for her research on sika deer. She was appointed a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Foresters.

Personal life Davidson married Bill (William) Davidson in 1939. He died in November 1990.