A man who died following a crash between a bicycle and a Land Rover in Shorwell last weekend has been named as 64-year-old Professor Simon McQueen-Mason.
As previously reported by Island Echo, emergency services were called to Main Road at 10:15 last Sunday to reports of a serious collision at the junction with New Barn Lane.
The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and local paramedics were scrambled to the scene but, despite the best efforts of medics, Professor McQueen-Mason’s life could not be saved and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although Hampshire Constabulary are yet to confirm any further details, the University of York has paid tribute to Professor McQueen-Mason, who was the University’s Chair in Materials Biology.
The 64-year-old was also a director of The Biorenewables Development Centre and his areas of expertise included lignocellulosic biorefining and biofuels, digestibility of plant biomass and enzymes for plant biomass deconstruction.
Simon was no stranger to the Isle of Wight having once been a professional fisherman here and still retaining family and friendship connections locally.
Paying tribute, the University of York has said:
“It is with a sense of profound sadness that we report the sudden and untimely death of Professor Simon McQueen-Mason. Simon was involved in a cycling accident on the Isle of Wight on Sunday 5th June and died instantly.
Article continues below this advertisement “Simon was the chair of Materials Biology at the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) in the department of biology.
“His path to academia was unusual. He left school at 17 without any A-levels and worked as a professional fisherman [on the Isle of Wight], eventually owning his own boat. The money he earnt from fishing funded his passion for travel.
“It was while travelling that he became curious about living systems in the natural world, particularly in the marine environment. This inspired him to write a letter to Portsmouth Polytechnic at the age of 26 and convinced them to offer him a place to study biological science. He had not studied biology since the age of 13 and initially struggled, but he persevered and graduated with a first-class degree.
“In 1987, Simon was offered a PhD position at Pennsylvania State University under the supervision of Professor Daniel Cosgrove, publishing five ground-breaking papers based on his discovery of plant cell wall modifying proteins called expansins.
“In 1994, after a short period as a postdoc at Penn State, Simon’s career at the University of York began. His pioneering work on plant cell walls formed the basis of a prestigious Royal Society Fellowship. Simon was subsequently appointed to a CNAP Chair in materials biology in 2001.
“Simon’s love of travel made him passionate about using his skills to address environmental issues and global challenges, particularly climate change. He led international projects in Brazil, India, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam to create value from agricultural residues such as rice straw and sugarcane bagasse, with a particular emphasis on helping small holder farmers.
“He was a brilliant creative scientist and was much loved by his group. He will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues across the world.”
Professor McQueen-Mason is survived by his partner Claire, former wife Florencia and children Ian and Sofia.
A book of remembrance has been opened at https://rememberancebook.net/book/professor-simon-j-mcqueen-mason/.
A great loss to the World.
I met this chap along time go. Decent bloke and a real loss to the world. I wish his family well at this difficult time.
Such a talented man but also a loving family man, so sad to hear of his life being cut short, may he rest in peace and sincere condolences with his family and friends.
Thank you all for your condolences. Simon lived just along the road from Shorwell and loved the Island, it is where his heart has always been.
Is the driver being checked for dangerous driving? I wonder if these new range rovers have cameras / recording speed logs.
It’s easy to drive safely, avoiding cyclists is also easy and takes just a little patience.
I want to know how it happened.
I hope they are, like you say, using your eyes and having respect for other roads users is easy.
It’s only easy to avoid cyclists when you’re not on the phone. When I take my dog for a walk and wait at the pedestrian crossing I see so many looking at their phone waiting for the lights to go green, all of which is now illegal.
This could be you one day killing someone I am sure the driver is devastated and will have to live with this terrible outcome for the rest of there life enough said