Kevin Russel Tate (8 April 1943 – 22 January 2018) was a New Zealand soil chemist, ecologist and climate scientist.

Early life and family

Born in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

on 8 April 1943, Tate was the son of Dudley Tate and Hazel Winifred Tate (née Jackson-Hughes). He was educated at

Hutt Valley High School Hutt Valley High School is a State school, state coeducational secondary school located in central Lower Hutt, New Zealand. A total of students from Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) attend the school as of making the school one of the largest i ...

from 1956.

Scientific career

Tate studied chemistry at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating BSc in 1964, 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 ...

the following year. His master's thesis was titled ''A study of the dealdolisation of diacetone alcohol''. Tate then completed a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

decarboxylation Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (CO2). Usually, decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain. The reverse process, which is t ...

kinetics and mechanisms under

Robert Walker Hay Robert Walker Hay FRSE FRCS (1934–1999) was a British chemist. He held the chair in Chemistry at Stirling University and later St Andrews University. Life Hay went to Glasgow University to study Chemistry, graduating BSc in 1956 and then ...

at Victoria, before moving to

Soil Bureau New Zealand Soil Bureau was a division of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research specializing in soil-related research and development. Originally formed as the 'soil su ...

, a branch of the

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

(DSIR) in the Hutt Valley. In 1992, DSIR was dissolved and Soil Bureau became

Landcare Research Landcare may refer to: * Australian Landcare Council, a now superseded Australian government body * Landcare in Australia, umbrella approach promoting land protection in Australia * Landcare Research, New Zealand *The Landcare movement in Australi ...

, a Crown Research Institute, and he moved with it to Palmerston North, on the campus of

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. Much of Tate's early research involved the storage and cycling of phosphorus and carbon in soils, particularly in economically important New Zealand grasslands and native forests. Later work focused on

carbon cycling The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component ...

and sequestration, particularly as climate change became an issue and the question of how soils and soil biota could impact atmospheric carbon dioxide levels became relevant. Tate also contributed his soil chemistry knowledge to other research topics at Soil Bureau / Landcare, including

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

rehabilitation, restoration of pasture after topsoil removal and understanding tussock grasslands. Many papers were coauthored with people including Des J. Ross, C.W. Feltham, Benny K.G. Theng, R.H. Newman, Neal A. Scott, Surinder Saggar, Paul C.D. Newton, Troy Baisden, Aroon Parshotam, David A. Wardle and Gregor W. Yeates. Retirement in 2005 did not stop Tate working on his science. One of his last works was editing ''Microbial Biomass'', a 2017 volume on soil and ecosystem microbial processes. Tate died in Palmerston North on 22 January 2018.

Honours and awards

In 1995, Tate was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the peak science organisation in New Zealand. He was also elected to fellowships of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry and the New Zealand Society of Soil Science. In 2005, Tate was awarded the

Marsden Medal The Marsden Medal is a yearly award given by the New Zealand Association of Scientists. It is named after Sir Ernest Marsden and honours "a lifetime of outstanding service to the cause or profession of science, in recognition of service rendere ...

by the New Zealand Association of Scientists for "contribution to, and leadership of, research into ecosystem processes and climate change panningfour decades."

Selected works

* * * *

References

External links

* 1943 births 2018 deaths People from Lower Hutt People educated at Hutt Valley High School Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand chemists New Zealand soil scientists People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand) Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand {{NewZealand-academic-bio-stub