Her family and friends pay tribute to Lucinda Graymore, a Camden ecologist who died aged 50 of breast cancer.
The relationship between people and plants drew ecologist Lucinda Graymore to the natural world, and she always particularly valued Camden.
She worked on many projects locally, including the restoration of Hampstead Churchyard, helping to understand the effect of HS2 on Adelaide Road Nature Reserve and the fascinating new nature trails which snake through Belsize Woods for the first time since the days of Agatha Christie.
Lucinda was born in Surrey in 1967, but when she was five, the family moved to Devon where she had a very happy country childhood with two sisters and a brother.
Lucinda had considerable artistic gifts – she played the cello, danced, and, later, loved photography.
Meanwhile throughout her life she always harboured a great passion for nature and outdoor events - this even included taking on Devon’s imposing Ten Tors Challenge.
Her love of science was clear from an early stage though, and Lucinda followed that passion to University College, London where she studied for a degree in Biological Sciences.
After a summer as a PA in the music industry, she focussed fully on ecology. The bio-diversity of regions particularly fascinated her, leading to a study of the Cerrado region of Brazil for her master’s degree from the University of Reading.
She then worked for some time with enviromental consultants Hunting Technical Services before taking on the task of establishing and maintaining species collections at Kew Gardens.
Beyond that, she loved the variety of work offered here in Camden, from working with plants that flourish beside our canals to those which are just right for Hampstead Heath.
She was also fascinated by the work of Dr Edward Gilbert-Kawai and his team researching into the effects of altitude, space and extreme environment on medicine at UCL in conjunction with The Royal Free Hospital.
She was a much loved Aunt to nine nieces and nephews and despite increasing ill health she was a valued participant in Camden’s Green Gym.
She was also delighted to volunteer as a Games Maker in the UK’s 2012 Olympics.
Lucinda was wise and funny and beautiful. She had a gentleness of spirit and great grace – and has died too early from metastatic breast cancer.
She was an asset to the universe and to us here in Belsize.
She died at home on June 23, and her family would like to thank the Royal Free Hospital for the care they provided her.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here