Mary Elizabeth WhiteAM(22 February 1926 – 5 August 2018) was an Australianpaleobotanistand author, notable for collecting numerous plant fossils for theAustralian Museum,describing a number of new plant fossil species, and authoring several well received, large format science books for the general readership including "The Greening of Gondwana" (1986) and successors.[1]
Mary E. White AM | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 February 1926 South Africa |
| Died | 5 August 2018(aged 92) Warrigal aged care complex |
| Cause of death | Manslaughter |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | University of Cape Town |
| Known for | Author |
| Spouse | Bill White |
| Awards | Riversleigh medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Paleobotany |
| Institutions | Bureau of Mineral Resources Australian Museum |
Biography
editEarly years and scientific career
editWhite was born in South Africa, grew up in southernRhodesia(nowZimbabwe) and received a master's degree in paleobotany from theUniversity of Cape Town.[2]She married Bill White, a geologist; the couple came to Australia in 1955.[1]White worked as a consultant for theBureau of Mineral ResourcesinCanberrauntil the 1980s; she also consulted on a part-time basis for mining companies. In 1975, she was hired as a research associate for the Australian Museum; she established a collection of 12,000 specimens of plant fossils for the museum.[2]Among her published output were descriptions of several new species and genera includingAgathis jurassica,Rissikia talbragarensisandPentoxylon australicafrom the Late JurassicTalbragar Fish Beds,Squamella,a new genus ofGlossopteridfructification from the Late Permian, andCylomeia,a new genus for an Early Triassiclycopod.[3][4][5]
She began writing large format, well illustrated science books after her husband died in 1981, highlights including "The Greening of Gondwana" (1986); "The Nature of Hidden Worlds" (1990), "Time in Our Hands" (1991), and "After the Greening: The Browning of Australia" (1994), the last of which received one of the 1994Eureka Prizes.
In 2003, White purchased a large forested property, Falls Forest Retreat, approximately halfway betweenTareeandPort Macquariein New South Wales; she established acovenantto protect the land and preserve its biodiversity.[2]In 2013 she sold the property but with the covenant it can never be disturbed.
Illness and death
editIn her later years White suffered from vascular dementia and a stroke and went to live with her daughter and her daughter's husband inBundanoon, New South Walesbetween 2014 and 2016. In 2016, following another stroke she moved to a nearby aged-care centre. On 5 August 2018, White was found dead in her room at the Warrigal aged care complex, apparently as a result of drugs administered without authorization by her daughter, Dr Barbara Eckersley. Eckersley was charged with her mother's murder; at her bail hearing, her barrister maintained that his client had the "belief that the aged-care centre weren't able to deal with Dr White's agitation and pain".[6][7][8]After more than two years' delay, Eckersley was eventually found guilty, not of murder but of the lesser charge of manslaughter and was spared jail time, instead being sentenced to a two year community corrections order on account of what the judge termed her "low moral culpability" due to a "diagnosis of severe depression".[9]
Awards and honours
editWhite received honorary doctorates from four Australian universities,[1]plus the Riversleigh medal in 1999 for "excellence in promoting understanding of Australian prehistory". In 2010, she received a Lifetime of Conservation award from theAustralian Geographic Society.[2]She was awarded theAustralian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science's Mueller Medal in 2001. In 2009, she was made a Member theOrder of Australia(AM) for "service to botany as a researcher and through the promotion of increased understanding and awareness of the natural world".[10][11]
Publications
editBooks
edit- Australia's Prehistoric Plants & Their Environment (Methuen, 1985)
- The Greening of Gondwana – The 400 Million Year Story of Australia's Plants(Reed Books, 1986)
- The Nature of Hidden Worlds – Animals and Plants in Prehistoric Australia and New Zealand(Reed Books, 1990)
- Muttaburrasaurus: An Australian Dinosaur in Its Time and Space(Houghton Mifflin, 1990) – with Robyn Muche (Illustrator)
- Amphibians of the Triassic: Tadpole Hunting 220 Million Years Ago(Houghton Mifflin, 1990) – with Robyn Muche (Illustrator)
- Time in Our Hands – Semi-precious Gemstones: Keys to the Geological Past(Reed Books, 1991)
- After the Greening: The Browning of Australia(Houghton Mifflin, 1994), received aEureka Prize
- Listen... Our Land is Crying(Kangaroo Press, 1997)
- Reading the Rocks(Kangaroo Press, 1999)
- Running Down: Water in a Changing Land(Kangaroo Press, 2000), which was shortlisted for a Eureka Prize[12]
- Earth Alive! From Microbes to a Living Planet(Rosenberg Publishing, 2003)[10]
Scientific papers
editrefer text.
References
edit- ^abcDolsen, Brett (31 October 2013)."Eighty five years of researching life on Earth".Australian Broadcasting Company. Archived fromthe originalon 2 June 2019.Retrieved16 November2015.
- ^abcd"2010 AG Awards Lifetime of Conservation: Mary White".Australian Geographic Society. 6 October 2010.
- ^White, M.E. (1978)."Reproductive structures of the Glossopteridales in the plant fossil collection of the Australian Museum"(PDF).Records of the Australian Museum.31(12): 473–505.doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.31.1978.223.
- ^White, M.E. (1981)."Revision of the Talbragar Fish Bed Flora (Jurassic) of New South Wales"(PDF).Records of the Australian Museum.33(15): 695–721.doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.33.1981.269.
- ^White, M.E. (1981)."Cylomeia undulata(Burges) gen.et comb.nov., a lycopod of the Early Triassic strata of New South Wales "(PDF).Records of the Australian Museum.33(16): 723–734.doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.33.1981.270.
- ^"Renowned scientist Mary White allegedly murdered by her daughter".ABC News.9 August 2018.Retrieved10 August2018.
- ^"Loss of a national treasure: Woman, 92, who was 'murdered by her daughter' revealed to be an award-winning scientist and author who was honoured with the Order of Australia".msn.9 August 2018.Retrieved9 August2018.
- ^"Scientist Mary White's daughter, charged with her murder at aged-care facility, granted bail".ABC News.10 August 2018.Retrieved10 August2018.
- ^"Barbara Eckersley spared jail time for killing elderly mother using 'green dream' drugs".ABC News.20 May 2021.Retrieved22 May2021.
- ^ab"The Queen's Birthday 2009 Honours List"(PDF).Governor-General of Australia. p. 108. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 12 April 2018.Retrieved16 November2015.
- ^"White, Mary Elizabeth".honours.pmc.gov.au.Retrieved9 August2018.
- ^"Our Patron – Dr Mary E. White".Climate Change Australia.