Keith Alan Waterhouse Crook (3 August 1933 - 18 February 2020) 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, althoug ...

and

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Branw ...

ist.

Education

Keith Crook attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

(1944-1949) and 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 ...

from whence he graduated as a

Bachelor of Science 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 o ...

in 1954 and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

in 1956. He then did a PhD at the University of New England from 1956 until 1959, followed by postdoctoral studies at 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 no ...

and the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, from 1959 until 1961.

Teaching career

In 1961, Crook took a position at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

(ANU) teaching sedimentology and stratigraphy. He undertook research in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and

Tumut, New South Wales Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

. This research was concerned with the tectonic development of sedimentary basins. In mid-1992 Crook was appointed to a position at the

University of Hawai’i A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

as Science Program Director of the Undersea Laboratory. He returned to the ANU as a visiting fellow in mid-2004, where he continued his research until 2017. In 2008 a new species of prehistoric armoured lobe-finned fish discovered near

Eden, New South Wales Eden is a coastal town in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is south of the state capital Sydney and is the most southerly town in New South Wales, located between Nullica Bay to the south and Calle Calle Bay, the ...

by a team of ANU scientists was named '' Edenopteron keithcrooki'', in honour of Keith Crook. This was in recognition of Crook's discovery of several fossil sites in New South Wales, plus coordinating the mapping of a large area around Eden and Twofold Bay by staff and students of his at the ANU.

Pacifism and Political involvement

In 1955 he was drafted into military service, which crystalized his disquiet on the use of war and violence as political tools, and he subsequently was granted an exemption as a conscientious objector. Around this time he started attending Quaker meetings, whose Peace testimony accorded with his own thoughts, and he joined as a member in 1958. In 1963 Crook joined the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

and stood as a candidate in the 1969 Federal election for the seat of Bradfield. Dr Crook served as a long-term scientific policy advisor for the Australian Labor Party, commencing under

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

. In 1970 he presented the

James Backhouse Lecture The Backhouse Lecture series has been given annually since 1964 as a presentation at Quakers Yearly Meeting in Australia. It is similar in themes and structure to the Swarthmore Lecture series in Britain. Also known as the ''James Backhouse Lecture' ...

in Melbourne, entitled “Security for Australia?”.Backhouse Lecture
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Personal life

Crook was the son of Alan Crook and Muriel Waterhouse. He met and married Norma Jean Fuller in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1961 and they had three children. After divorcing he married Dr Anne Felton. Crook died on 18 February 2020 in Eden, shortly after returning from evacuation during the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

Honours

Crook was awarded the

by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1983.

Publications

* ''Security for Australia'' by Dr K.A.W. Crook (Sydney: Australian Yearly Meeting, 1970) * ''The geological evolution of Australia & New Zealand'' by D. A. Brown, K. S. W. Campbell, K. A. W. Crook (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1968) * ''Manual of sedimentary structures'' by C.E.B. Conybeare and K.A.W. Crook (Canberra: Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, 1968) * ''Tasman orogen profile'' by M.J. Rickard and K.A.W. Crook (Sydney : Dept. of Mineral Resources, 1985) * ''The Concorde SST and Australia - problems in open assessment of specialised technology'' by M.C. Anderson, K.A.W. Crook and M.O. Diesendorf (Canberra : Society for Social Responsibility in Science, 1974)National_Library_of_Australia
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crook, Keith 1933 births 2020 deaths Australian geologists Australian Methodists Australian Quakers People educated at Newington College