Biography
His parents were Edgar Worthington and Amy née Beale. His early education was at Rugby School, before he went up to gain a First in Zoology at Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge. After university, his work alternated between Britain and Africa. He took part in an African lakes expedition in 1927–31; and in an African research expedition 1934–37, for which he was awarded the Mungo Park Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
He was secretary to and first full-time director of the Freshwater Biological Association 1937–46. He returned to Africa in the late 1940s as science and development advisor. He was deputy scientific director for the Nature Conservancy 1957–65, and scientific director of the International Biological Programme (IBP) 1964–74. His interests included water biology and international nature conservation, including the environmental impacts of drainage and irrigation. He was appointed CBE in 1977.
In 1930, Worthington married Stella Johnson, who had been a member of the earlier expeditions he had undertaken and who shared many of his interests. In 1933, they jointly published the book Inland Waters of Africa. They had three daughters, all of whom followed their parents' scientific inclinations. Stella Worthington died in 1978. Two years later, he married Harriet Stockton. He died on 14 December 2001.
