our queer elders
elke mackenzie
“unhappily the geological record can tell us little about how lichens evolved; lichens do not fossilize readily.”
—e.m, in a scientific american article published 1959
elke mackenzie (1911-1990) was a biologist, antarctic explorer, and trans woman. after getting her master’s degree in 1933, she curated the lichen herbarium at the british natural history museum. in the 1940s, feeling disillusioned by academia and the sciences (been there), elke participated in operation tabarin, a top-secret british expedition to antarctica during world war ii with the ultimate goal of strengthening british territorial claims. elke worked as a surveyer and dog musher, while also collecting, identifying, and cataloging the various species of lichen on the continent. of this experience, she wrote: “how one thrills then when one’s fingers extract a tiny tuft of moss or lichen from a crevice in these ice-bound rocks and hold before one’s eyes the proof that something living, something of our own nature, has managed to cling and persist in the face of this outrageous icy onslaught.”
elke transitioned later in life, and while her transition was not fully accepted by her colleagues, she announced her new name in the october 1976 international lichenological newsletter and four years prior named herself in the acknowledgements of one of her manuscripts, with grateful acknowledgement to “miss elke mackenzie for technical and bibliographic assistance.”
elke mackenzie, photo from the british lichen society
about the song
an illustration from elke’s scientific american article, 1959.
lichens are symbionts, organisms living in close, long-term relationships with one another. composed of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among species of fungi, lichen are not only complex, but tenacious. they’re found on every continent, from sea-level to mountain tops. it’s a beautiful metaphor for queer existence in community.
“hope bay” explores elke’s “mistrust in the usefulness of scientific effort” (been there), while affirming her perseverance in the face of adversity.
hope bay
I guess that I’ve always been drawn to the rootless to the strong
what does that say about me?
in the forest on the sand in the tundra or savanna
open your eyes and see
wherever they grow I won’t be far behind
so I’ll pack my bags and head to antarctica
that frozen continent so far away
from the stifling grip of academia
in tiny symbionts, I’ll place my faith
how we cling and we persist, in the face of the outrageous
silver, gold, and green
two apart are not the same when together they remain
evolved through eternity
wherever I go they won’t be far behind
so I’ll pack my bags and head to antarctica
that frozen continent so far away
from the stifling grip of academia
in tiny symbionts, I’ll place my faith
on the surface I’ll survive, it’s like I’ve lived a thousand lives
or a thousand lives have lived through me
out here on this icy plain I swear I hear you say my name
the name that I will surely be
so I’ll pack my bags and head to antarctica
that frozen continent so far away
from the stifling grip of academia
in tiny symbionts, I’ll place my faith
the lure of the anglerfish
the alga and the fungus
the snake in the screech owl’s nest
the honey bee in the tulip
the squash the bean the corn enmeshed
the coral’s dinoflagellates
the alga and the fungus
the alga and the fungus
the alga and the fungus
together we persist
k.a.castagno 2024
recommended reading
the unsung heroine of lichenology by sabrina imbler. published 2020 in jstor daily.
queer as fact podcast: elke mackenzie. published 2023.
lichens, published by elke mackenzie in scientific american in 1959.