Eileen Alice Willa
Eileen Alice Willa (1905–1999) was a New Zealand botanical collector, museum curator and writer.

She was born Eileen Harrison on Stewart Island, and grew up with a love of botany. In 1928, she married Percy Willa and they settled at Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island. While Percy fished, she explored and collected plants. In 1943, Victor Lindauer, a New Zealand algae collector, asked her to collect seaweeds from Stewart Island, to help him in his work. She sent many specimens, and from this time she started collecting seaweeds (as well as land plants). Like Lindauer, she too, hosted scientific teams visiting her home (Stewart Island).

Three species of seaweed honour Eileen Willa: "Ptilonia willana" (found at Port Pegasus in 1945), the large brown kelp, "Durvillaea willana" (Broad Bay, 1946) and "Crouania willae" (Ringaringa, 1960). In 1974 with three others, she co-authored the publication "The Marine Algae of Stewart Island".

A museum at Rakiura was established, showing collections of native flora. In 1963 she became its curator and worked there for 22 years. Her daughter, Ellen, died in 1975, and her husband in 1985, at which point she presented her herbarium of Stewart Island algae to the National Museum, Wellington, and left Stewart Island to live in Invercargill, where she died in 1999."

She collected some 6000 specimens held in at least seven herbaria (AK, BPBM, MIN, MICH, MELU, NHMUK and S), and across some 74 plant families. Her specimens are still contributing to scientific research.
Q3406385
Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island
LOC
Q21519131
Victor Lindauer
PER
Q39589409
Ptilonia willana
Concept
Q7230841
Port Pegasus
LOC
Q5316810
Durvillaea willana
Concept
Q4971842
Broad Bay
LOC
Q40733973
Crouania willae
Concept
Q41684
Rakiura
LOC
Q915603
National Museum, Wellington
LOC
Q31805
Invercargill
LOC
Q758657
AK
LOC
Q826520
BPBM
LOC
Q238101
MIN
LOC
Q230492
MICH
ORG
Q319078
MELU
LOC
Q309388
NHMUK
LOC
Q1420103
S
LOC
Q57379289
Eileen Alice Willa
PER
1928-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1928
DATE
1943-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1943
DATE
1945-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1945
DATE
1946-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1946
DATE
1960-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1960
DATE
1974-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1974
DATE
1963-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1963
DATE
1975-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1975
DATE
1985-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1985
DATE
1999-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1999
DATE
6000-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
6000
DATE
+1905^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1905
NUMBER
+1999^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1999
NUMBER
+22^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
22
NUMBER
+74^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
74
NUMBER
has works in the collection
place of death