Background
She was born Sophie Charlotte von Klemperer in Dresden.
She was born Sophie Charlotte von Klemperer in Dresden.
She studied at the Cheltenham Ladies" College in England.
She began the study of botany at the University of Geneva and the University of Stuttgart. The family left Germany at the outbreak of hostilities and moved to Tehran, Persia. In 1941, they were forced to move again and settled in Australia.
Ducker worked as a research assistant for Doctor Ethel Irene McLennan of the botany school at the University of Melbourne.
She completed a Bachelor of Science at the University in 1952. In 1957, she became a botany lecturer at the university and, in 1961, a senior lecturer.
She specialized in marine botany, especially algae. She retired in 1974 but continued to conduct research, present papers and lecture.
Ducker received a Doctor of Science from the University of Melbourne in 1978.
She also published biographies of early Australian botanists. The standard author transcript Ducker is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name. Ducker died in Melbourne at the age of 95.