Michael Stuart Laverack MIB

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(19 March 1931 – 28 July 1993) was a British zoologist who was Director of the

Gatty Marine Laboratory The Gatty Marine Laboratory is a science facility located in the coastal town of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. It is part of the University of St Andrews and home to the Scottish Oceans Institute, an interdisciplinary research institute studyi ...

from 1969 to 1985. He emigrated to Australia and was noted for his contributions to marine biology.

Life

He was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

in outer London on 19 March 1931. He was educated at Selhurst Grammar School for Boys in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. He was evacuated from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as a schoolboy during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He did

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

from 1949 to 1951, then studied Zoology at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, graduating BSc in 1955. He studied under Prof Gerald A. Kerkut and Prof K. A. Munday who greatly influenced his field of interest. His thesis on the snail helix under Prof Kerkut gained him his doctorate (PhD) in 1959. His first job was as Scientific Officer to Merlewood Research Centre at

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish located on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,042, increasing at the 2011 ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, but from here he moved in 1960 to begin lecturing at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. Here he was based at the Gatty Marine Laboratory with fellow notable researchers Malcolm Burrows and

Adrian Horridge (George) Adrian Horridge FRS FAA (born 12 December 1927) is an Australian neurobiologist and professor at Australian National University. Life Horridge was born in Sheffield, England, to George William Horridge (1897-1981) and Olive (1899-1995 ...

. In 1972 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were David R. R. Burt,

Harold Callan Harold Garnet Callan FRS FRSE (15 March 1917, in Maidenhead – 3 November 1993), known as Mick Callan, was an English zoologist and cytologist. He is especially remembered for his work on Lampbrush chromosomes. Life Callan was born in Maid ...

, James A. Macdonald, and Anthony E. Ritchie. In 1979 he founded the Department of Marine Biology together with Chris Todd. During his time in St Andrews University he lived at

Boarhills Boarhills is a hamlet close to Kingsbarns in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. It is located off the A917 road, from St Andrews and from Crail, close to the mouth of Kenly Water with the North Sea. History Boarhills Church, built in 1866–67 ...

, a small coastal village to the south.''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' obituary, 29 July 1993 In 1985 he left the Gatty and spent several years as a travelling professor giving lectures around the world. In 1989 he accepted a Fellowship 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 nor ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and moved there with his wife, keen to study Australia's diverse marine life. He was killed on 28 July 1993 in a helicopter crash en route to Heron Island Research Station embarking on a further study of the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. His wife Maureen Cole was killed with him. They had two sons and one daughter. A Memorial Gathering was held in January 1994 at

Crail Crail (); gd, Cathair Aile) is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018). Etymology The name ''C ...

Community Centre to mark the huge contribution which Michael had made both to his field and to the local community.

Publications

*''The Physiology of Earthworms'' (1963) *''Lecture Notes on Invertebrate Zoology'' (1974) co-written with J. Dando Founding Editor of ''Marine Behaviour and Physiology''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laverack, Michael Stuart 1931 births 1993 deaths Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Southampton English zoologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Croydon Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993 Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents in Australia 20th-century British zoologists