mrmoshe Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 Sea expert Isobel Bennett dies, aged 98 Pioneering Australian marine scientist and author Isobel Bennett, who left school at 16 but went on to have a coral reef named after her, has died aged 98. Dr Bennett, a self-styled seashore expert who was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of NSW, passed away at a nursing home in Mona Vale, in northern Sydney, about 5.30am (AEDT) Saturday. Len Zell, adjunct senior lecturer in marine and tropical biology at James Cook University, has paid tribute to a woman he said was schooled in the "university of life" and had an insatiable curiosity. "She achieved high standing as an Australian marine scientist, not by education, but by sheer hard work, determination, attention to detail and a never-ending curiosity that tired me out lifting boulders on many reef flats," Mr Zell said in a statement. "The last time I was on Heron Island with her she was in her eighties, and we spent hours out on the reef flat turning boulders and photographing and discussing the critters there. "The tide beat us and I had to carry her the last hundred metres to the beach. I was exhausted, but her enthusiasm drove me on." Dr Bennett was born in Brisbane in 1909 and, as the eldest of four children, she left school at 16 to enter the workforce. It was on a cruise with her sister to Norfolk Island in 1933 that she shared the cabin next door to marine professor William Dakin and his wife. Dakin offered her a job plotting ship masters' logged positions of whales for his later book. Dr Bennett went on to work for 40 years in the University of Sydney's zoology department. "In 1952 she was the lone female with 118 males on board the Danish research ship Galathea which took her from Sydney to Adelaide and back to Melbourne," Mr Zell said. "(Then) she and her assistant were members of the first four women scientists to visit Macquarie Island in 1959." Dr Bennett also worked on the Great Barrier Reef between 1948 and 1970 and the acclaimed The Great Barrier Reef, one of her many books, was published in 1971. "One genus and five species of marine animals and a coral reef were named after her," Mr Zell said. "She made many world trips, expeditions and one highlight was whilst on a trip to Japan in 1967 she was asked to an audience with the Emperor of Japan, who was also a marine biologist." Dr Bennett was the first person to receive an honorary Master of Science in 1963, from the University of Sydney. She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to marine biology in 1984, and the honorary doctorate followed in 1995. In her later years, Dr Bennett was focused on foreshore conservation issues and she was the driving force behind educational signage seen at many sites on Sydney's coastline. Dr Bennett is survived by her sister Phyllis Bennett (AO). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 What a terrific sounding lady! Well before her time. Here's to the ladies in Marine Biology! Yay! Yay! Yay! Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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