Background
Sexton was born Alice Wilkins Wing at Truro, Cornwall on 27 April 1868.
Sexton was born Alice Wilkins Wing at Truro, Cornwall on 27 April 1868.
She studied at the Truro School of Artist
Early life and Education In 1885 she and her family moved to Plymouth. In 1900 Sexton began providing Doctor Allen with scientific illustrations for his publications on polychaete worms and other invertebrates. Her illustrations were first published in 1902, when Sexton provided 12 plates to the British Museum"s Report on the collections made during the voyage of the Southern Cross.
Although Sexton never formally trained as a zoologist in 1906 she undertook to identify and study amphipod specimens Doctor Allen had collected on a field trip to the Bay of Biscay.
She published her first scientific paper in 1908. She would continue to publish over 30 scientific papers until 1951.
Her research into Gammarids helped clarify the complicated taxonomy of those species. Sexton"s discovery of a red-eyed mutation in the species Gammarus chevreuxi led to her starting a series of genetic experiments.
Her work with this species also resulted in a collaboration with Julian Huxley in 1920.
Death She died on 18 February 1959 at Alfriston, Sussex, aged 91.