Jeffrey, Shirley Winifred (1930 - 2014)

Summary

Shirley Jeffrey was one of the world's foremost authorities on microalgae and phytoplankton, crystallising and characterising the earth's predominant light-harvesting pigment, Chlorophyll c. She was acting chief of CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research, 1981-1984.

Details

After completing her PhD she returned to Australia to work at CSIRO Division of Fisheries and Oceanography. In 1963-1964 she worked at the University of California, Berkeley, as a research fellow funded by the Kaiser Foundation. Jeffrey participated in the maiden voyage of the Alpha Helix, the research vessel of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, investigating pigments in microalgae that are symbiotic in tropical reef animals. Jeffrey was a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO's marine biochemistry unit between 1971 and 1977. From 1977 to 1981 she was a Senior Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Division of Fisheries and Oceanography and then acting Chief of CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research (1981-1984). During this period she organised the move of the Division from Sydney to Hobart. In 1991 she became a Chief Research Scientist. From 1978 to 1995 she was in charge of developing the CSIRO Algal Culture Collection, known as the Collection of Living Microalgae, and co-edited the UNESCO-published Phytoplankton pigments in oceanography (1997).

Chronology

1952

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney

1954

Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Sydney

1958

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), King's College London

1962 - 1964

Award - Kaiser Foundation Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S.A.

1971 - 1977

Career position - Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO marine biochemistry unit

1977 - 1981

Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Fisheries and Oceanography

1981 - 1984

Career position - Acting Chief, CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research

1984 - 1988

Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research

1988

Award - Inaugural Jubilee Award, Australian Marine Sciences Association

1988 - 1995

Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Fisheries

1991

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1991 - 2014

Career position - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1993

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to marine science

1993

Award - R. M. Johnston Medal, Royal Society of Tasmania

1995

Life event - Retired

1997 - 1998

Career position - Vice-President, Royal Society of Tasmania

2000

Award - Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal, National Academy of Science, U.S.A.

2000

Award - American National Academy of Science (NAS) Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal awarded for research in algae

2001

Award - Centenary Medal for service to Australian society and science in algal physiology and ecology

2001 - 2014

Award - Foreign Associate of the American National Academy of Sciences (NAS)

2006

Award - Inducted into the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women

2007

Award - Shinkishi Hatai Medal, 21st Pacific Science Congress, Okinawa, Japan

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Interview with Dr Shirley Jeffrey, marine biologist [sound recording] / interviewer, Ragbir Bhathal., TRC 3573; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

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

Books

• Bhathal, Ragbir, Profiles, Australian women scientists (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1999), 191 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Jeffrey, Shirley W., 'From Cronulla to Hobart: Personal Reflections' in CSIRO at Sea: 50 Years of Marine Science, Mawson, Vivienne, Tranter, David J. and Pearce, Alan F., eds (Hobart: CSIRO Marine Laboratories, 1988), pp. 195-202. Details

Journal Articles

• Hallengraeff, S. I.; Blackburn, S.; Roy, S.; Vernet, M.; and Wright, S. W., 'Tribute to Shirley Jeffrey: 50 years of research on chlorophyll c', Phycologia, 51 (2012), 123-5. Details
• Wright, Simon W.; Hallegraeff, Gustaaf M.; and Mantoura, R. Fauzi C., 'Shirley Winifred Jeffrey 1930 - 2014', Historical Records of Australian Science, 27 (1) (2016), 81-91, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR16002. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Clementson, Lesley; Jeffrey, Tom M.; and Hallegraeff, Gustaaf, 'Shirley Jeffrey: biochemist gave marine science an ocean of knowledge', Sydney Morning Herald (2014). Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q17516072. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/93303786. Details
• 'Jeffrey, Shirley Winifred (1930 - 2014)', Tasmanian honour roll of women, Tasmanian Government, Hobart, 2023, https://www.women.tas.gov.au/tasmanian_honour_roll_of_women/inductees/2006/shirley_jeffrey_am. https://www.women.tas.gov.au/tasmanian_honour_roll_of_women. Details
• 'Jeffrey, Shirley Winifred (1930 - 2014)', Fellows of the Academy, Australian Academy of Science, 2019, https://www.science.org.au/profile/shirley-jeffrey. Details
• 'Jeffrey, Shirley Winifred (1930-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1473898. Details
• Wright, Simon W.; Hallegraeff, Gustaaf M.; and Mantoura, R. Fauzi C., Biographical memoirs: Shirley W. Jeffrey 1930 - 2014, National Academy of Sciences, 2015. http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/jeffrey-shirley.pdf. Details

Resource Sections

• McDougall, Trevor, 'Interview with Dr Shirley Jeffrey', in Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 27 June 2000, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/j/sj.html. Details
• Ward, C., 'Shirley Winifred Jeffrey', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Jeffrey-Shirley-Winifred. Details

See also

• 'Jeffrey, Shirley Winifred (1930 - 2014)', Jubilee Award recipients, Australian Marine Sciences Association, 2022, https://www.amsa.asn.au/sites/default/files/shirley_jeffrey_1988.pdf. https://www.amsa.asn.au/jubilee-award-recipients. Details