Edgar Julian Duncan is a Professor Emeritus in Plant Science, of the St. Augustine campus (Trinidad) of The University of the West Indies from which he retired 15 years ago. He obtained his undergraduate degree (majoring in Botany and Zoology) in 1960, from the then University College of the West Indies (external college of London University) in Jamaica, and proceeded to the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) where he obtained his doctorate in Fungal cytology and genetics in 1963. He was appointed a lecturer in Botany at the St. Augustine campus in 1963 and rose through the ranks to the position of Professor.
In 1975 he attended the Freie Universitat in Berlin Germany on a Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst Dienst (DAAD) Fellowship, where he developed an expertise in Plant Tissue Culture, which became his special field for the remainder of his University career, and for which he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award, by the National Institute of Higher Education (Science, research and Technology ) NIHERST in 2002. He sat on the Board of the Asa Wright Nature Centre for a number of years and was Chair of their Education Programme for some time. Subsequent to his retirement from the Board, he was named an Honorary Life Member.