Person
Ludbrook, Nelly Hooper (1907 - 1995)
MBE
- Born
- 14 June 1907
Yorketown, South Australia, Australia - Died
- 9 May 1995
- Occupation
- Geologist and Palaeontologist
- Alternative Names
- Woods, Nelly (maiden name)
Summary
Nelly Ludbrook, née Woods, was the first South Australian born palaeontologist to demonstrate the importance of palaeontology to the mining industry and founded what is now known as the Biostratigraphy Section of Mines and Energy, South Australia. Interested in geology and palaeontology from her undergraduate years at the University of Adelaide, where she completed Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees, she was able to pursue her interest in Cainozoic molluscs when she married Wallis Verco Ludbrook in 1935 and moved to Canberra. She had written a paper on the subject while working as a high school teacher at Mount Barker for which she was awarded the Tate Medal from the University of Adelaide. Her subsequent career included appointment as assistant geologist with the Commonwealth Government from 1942-1949, a period in London from 1950 at the Imperial College where she gained a PhD in geology and the DIC in palaeontology for a study of Pliocene molluscs from strata underlying the Adelaide Plains. On the death of her husband she returned to South Australia in 1952 where she was employed as technical information officer for the Mines Department, and in 1957 was appointed palaeontologist, a position she held until her retirement in 1967 as senior palaeontologist. She published more than 70 scientific papers and monographs, and at least 17 fossil species and one genus of fossil mollusc have been named in her honour. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1981 'for service to science'.
Details
Chronology
- 1928
- Education - BS, University of Adelaide
- 1930
- Education - Master of Arts (MA), University of Adelaide
- 1942 - 1949
- Career position - Assistant Geologist, Bureau of Mineral Resources
- 1952
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of London
- 1952
- Education - DIC in palaeontology, Imperial College, London
- 1952 - 1957
- Career position - Technical Information Officer, South Australian Department of Mines
- 1953 - 1956
- Career position - Foundation Secretary, South Australian Division, Geological Society of Australia
- 1956 - 1959
- Career position - Secretary, Geological Society of Australia
- 1957 - 1967
- Career position - Palaeontologist (later Senior Palaeontologist), South Australian Department of Mines
- 1961 - 1962
- Career position - President, Royal Society of South Australia
- 1963
- Award - Sir Joseph Verco Medal, Royal Society of South Australia
- 1967
- Life event - Retired
- 1967 - 1980
- Career position - Editor, Handbooks of the flora and fauna of South Australia
- 1967 - 1993
- Career position - Consultant in palaeontology to the South Australian Department of Mines
- 1968
- Career position - President, Geological Society of Australia
- 1976 - 1995
- Award - Honorary Member, Geological Society of Australia
- 1981 -
- Career position - Honorary Associate, South Australian Museum
- 1981
- Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
Related entries
Published resources
Book Sections
- Ludbrook, N. H., 'Howchin, Walter (1845-1937), geologist and clergyman' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 9: 1891 - 1939 Gil-Las, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1983), pp. 377-378. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090378b.htm. Details
- O'Neil, Bernard, 'Ludbrook, Nelly Hooper (Nell) (1907-1995), geologist and palaeontologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 527-529, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ludbrook-nelly-hooper-nell-30107. Details
Journal Articles
- Alley, Neville F., 'Obituary: Nelly Hooper Ludbrook, MBE, MA, PhD, DIC, FGS 14.vi.1907 - 8.v.1995', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 120 (2) (1996), 74-7, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41319574. Details
- Cooper, Barry and Keith Johns, 'Nelly Hooper Ludbrook (1907-1995)', The Australian Geologist, 95 (1995), 48. 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
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q26838520. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/18584196. Details
- Geological Society of Australia, Australian geology hall of fame, Earth Sciences History Group, Geological Society of Australia, 2022. https://www.gsa.org.au/Public/Public/Specialist_Groups/ESHG_Sub_Pages/ESHG_Biographies.aspx?hkey=1bfc25ca-efd5-4f91-9536-dabf175139ce. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 26 November 2019