Kathleen Margaret Maria Sherrard (15 February 1898 – 21 August 1975) was an Australian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Early life and education

The daughter of John McInerny, a medical practitioner, and Margaratta Wright (née Brayshay), she was born Kathleen McInerny in North Carlton,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, and later lived in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She studied geology and chemistry at university, receiving a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(in 1918) and

MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...

(in 1921) from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

and winning the Kernot and Caroline Kay research scholarships.

Career

McInerny became a demonstrator and then assistant geography lecturer at the University of Melbourne in 1919, supporting her family after her father's death. She was honorary secretary of the Victorian Women Graduates' Association from 1920 to 1928. She spent six months in 1927 working under Professor Arthur Hutchinson at the mineralogical laboratory of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, attending lectures in crystallography and mineralogy. From 1928 to 1938 she was honorary secretary of the Australian Federation of University Women. Prior to the 1960s it was difficult for married women to find employment in Australia, and her marriage in 1928 was the end of Sherrard's paid career in geosciences. Instead, she involved herself in social causes and self-funded her education and research. Sherrard was a member of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

, the Royal Society of Victoria, the Linnean Society of New South Wales and the Geological Society of Australia. Professor Leo Cotton at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

granted her access to the facilities in the Geology Department and from the 1950s she was considered a staff member in the department. Sherrard switched from geology to palaeontology, becoming a keen palaeontologist. She worked on refining Ordovician to Silurian graptolite zones and studying

tentaculites ''Tentaculites'' is an extinct genus of conical fossils of uncertain affinity, class Tentaculita, although it is not the only member of the class. It is known from Lower Ordovician to Upper Devonian deposits both as calcitic shells with a brachio ...

and other invertebrates. She published 15 research papers in refereed journals between 1928 and 1975, attended domestic and international conferences and undertook fieldwork, sometimes taking her two sons with her. In 1939, Sherrard helped establish the Australian Association of Scientific Workers. In this role she convened a sub-committee which studied the effects of nutrition on child growth and worked on problems of food storage and distribution in the event of any large scale evacuation from cities during World War II. Toward the end of World War II, Sherrard published a paper in the ''Australian Women's Digest'', which challenged women pursuing science careers to think about their future. In 1950 she spent three months at the

and the

Sedgwick Museum The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, is the geology museum of the University of Cambridge. It is part of the Department of Earth Sciences and is located on the university's Downing Site in Downing Street, central Cambridge, England. The Sedgw ...

studying under Dr Gertrude Elles, and in 1967 examined fossil collections in Peking (later Beijing). She tried to promote an increased involvement by women in science.

Recognition

Her papers were donated to the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

, Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection. A species of graptolite is named for her - ''Monograptus sherrardae''.

Personal life

In 1928, she married Howard Macoun Sherrard; the couple had two sons. They moved to Sydney after their marriage.

Death

Sherrard died at home in Centennial Park, Sydney in 1975, at the age of 77. She was survived by her husband and sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherrard, Kathleen 1898 births 1975 deaths Australian women geologists University of Melbourne alumni 20th-century women scientists Scientists from Melbourne Australian paleontologists Australian women paleontologists