Una Vivienne Cassie Cooper (née Dellow; 29 September 1926 – 5 July 2021) was a New Zealand planktologist and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Early life

Cassie Cooper was born on 29 September 1926 in the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

suburb of Epsom to Annie Eveline Bell and her husband, Kenneth Dellow. She was educated at

Takapuna Grammar School Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Devo ...

, where her father was headmaster from 1935. She received her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degrees from Auckland University College, and her

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 ...

from

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

Career

In 1957, she made the first regional study of

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. Ph ...

in New Zealand. Later in life, she focused more on aquatic botany, and was appointed a research scientist on freshwater algae in the Botany Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). In her career, she wrote over fifty papers and several books, including ''Marine Phytoplankton in New Zealand Waters'' and ''Checklists of the Freshwater Diatoms of New Zealand''. Cooper also published ''Micro Algae – Microscopic Marvels'' which she writes to appeal to a more popular readership. Cassie Cooper garnered several awards and titles for her accomplishments, including an honorary research associateship by the Botany Department at

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

and the Botany Division of DSIR, and an honorary life membership of the New Zealand Limnological Society and the New Zealand Marine Science Society. In the

1997 Queen's Birthday Honours The 1997 Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 1997 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 1997 for New Zealand.New Zealand list: Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingd ...

, she was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to marine biology. She was described as New Zealand's "leading expert" on

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s. Cassie Cooper was a founding member of the Australasian Society for Phycology and Aquatic Botany, the International Society of Diatomists, and the Asian Pacific Phycological Association. She retired in 1986. In 2017, Cassie Cooper was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "

150 women in 150 words Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.

Personal life

In 1953, she married Richard Morrison Cassie, a fellow professor at the University of Auckland. They had two children. He died in 1974. She married Robert Cecil Cooper, a botanist, in 1984. Cooper would also predecease her.Catharine M.C. Haines, 'Women in Science, p.57

Death

Cassie Cooper died on 5 July 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassie Cooper, Vivienne 1926 births 2021 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women scientists 20th-century New Zealand botanists Planktologists Women planktologists University of Auckland alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand women botanists Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Takapuna Grammar School People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand)