Person

Crespin, Irene (1896 - 1980)

OBE

Born
12 November 1896
Kew, Victoria, Australia
Died
2 January 1980
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Occupation
Micropalaeontologist and Geologist

Summary

Irene Crespin was Commonwealth palaeontologist from 1936. She travelled widely in Australia and to Java and Sumatra carrying out important research. Crespin collected fossils for analysis and studied rock and sediment formations. She chaired the Canberra branch of the Territories Division of the Geological Society of Australia in 1955 and was president of the Royal Society of Canberra in 1957. Both institutions granted her honorary life membership in appreciation of her work.

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Details

Chronology

1919
Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Melbourne
1927 - 1936
Career position - Assistant Commonwealth Palaeontologist
1936 - 1961
Career position - Commonwealth Palaeontologist
1953
Award - Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
1956
Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
1960
Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Melbourne
1961
Life event - Retired
1962
Award - Award of Merit, Commonwealth Professional Officers' Association
1969
Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
1973 - 1980
Career position - Honorary member of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

Related Awards

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Book Sections

  • Bartlett, Margaret, 'Irene Crespin (1896-1980) micropalaeontologist' in 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Heather Radi, ed. (Sydney: Women's Redress Press Inc, 1988). Details
  • Bartlett, Margaret, 'Crespin, Irene (1896-1980), geologist and micropalaeontologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 532-533. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130593b.htm. Details
  • Crespin, Irene, 'Chapman, Frederick (1864-1943), palaeontologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), p. 612. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070621b.htm. Details

Edited Books

  • Radi, H. ed., 200 Australian Women: a Redress Anthology (Sydney: Women's Redress Press Inc, 1988), 268 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Crespin, Irene, 'Recollections on the Growth of Commonwealth Interest in the Geological Sciences', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 2 (2) (1972), 29-46. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9720220029.htm. Details
  • Flesch, Juliet and McPhee, Peter, '150 Years, 150 Stories: Irene Crespin', Uni News, 11 (23) (2002), 4. Details
  • Turner, S., 'Invincible but mostly Invisible: Australian Women's Contribution to Geology and Palaeontology', Geological Society Special Publication, 281 (2007), 165-202. Details

Resources

See also

  • Alexander, John A. ed., Who's who in Australia 1944 (Melbourne, Victoria: The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, 1944), 906 pp. Details
  • Carey, Jane, Taking to the field: a history of Australian women in science (Clayton, Vic.: Monash University Press, 2023), 297 pp. Details
  • Flesch, Juliet and McPhee, Peter, 150 years, 150 stories: brief biographies of one hundred and fifty remarkable people associated with the University of Melbourne (Melbourne: Department of History, University of Melbourne, 2003), 168 pp. Details
  • Kelly, Farley, 'Learning and Teaching Science: Women Making Careers 1890-1920' in On the Edge of Discovery: Australian Women in Science, Farley Kelly, ed. (Melbourne: Text Publishing Company, 1993), pp. 35-75. Details

McCarthy, G.J.

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 13 February 2018

EOAS ID: biogs/P000334b.htm

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