Gwyneth Alva Challis, known as Alva, (25 January 1930 – 21 November 2010) was a Welsh-born New Zealand geologist who discovered the mineral Wairauite, and pioneered the use of x-rays for mineral investigation in New Zealand.

Life and work

Challis was born in

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

, Wales, on 25 January 1930. In 1952, she emigrated with her parents to New Zealand, where she worked as a radiographer in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. In 1958, Challis joined the Petrology Section of the

New Zealand Geological Survey GNS Science (), officially registered as the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited, is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. It focuses on geology, geophysics (including seismology and volcanology), and nuclear science (partic ...

as a technician. She undertook a master's degree majoring in geology at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, studying part-time, where in 1959 she won the

Sir Robert Stout Sir Robert Stout (28 September 1844 – 19 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who was the 13th premier of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century, and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. He was the only person to hold both ...

scholarship for best student. Her master's thesis was on the geology of the Mt Lookout area in

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

. She later said that one of her supervisors,

Harold Wellman Harold William Wellman (25 March 1909 – 28 April 1999) was a New Zealand geologist known for his work on plate tectonics. He is notable for his discovery of South Island's Alpine Fault. Wellman became a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zea ...

, "treated her like an honorary man", such that she was surprised when he brought another lecturer to act as chaperone on a visit to her in the field. In 1961 Challis won a DSIR scholarship to Cambridge University, where she completed a PhD in geology in 1963, titled ''The petrology of the New Zealand ultramafic belt''. During her PhD Challis used an electron microprobe analyser to determine the composition of very small mineral particles, and in so doing, discovered a new mineral. This was named Wairauite, after the

Wairau Valley Wairau Valley is the valley of the Wairau River in Marlborough, New Zealand and also the name of the main settlement in the upper valley. State Highway 63 runs through the valley. The valley opens onto the Wairau Plain, where Renwick and B ...

in Marlborough where Challis found it. Her PhD was the first geoscience doctorate by a New Zealand woman. Also during her PhD, Challis met socially with one of her geology lecturers from Victoria University of Wellington, Ross Lauder. Lauder and Challis were married in 1963 in Wellington. The couple worked together on deep-seated rock deposits with possible mineral deposits, including the

Longwood Range The Longwood Range is a range of hills to the west of the Southland Plains, Southland, New Zealand. From the 1860s until the 1950s gold mining was prevalent in the Longwood Ranges. There are many small towns and localities situated around the p ...

in Southland. In 1965, when the Geological Survey celebrated its centenary, Challis was the only female scientist employed there. Lauder died in 1979. Challis retired to

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding district has a numb ...

in 1995, where she volunteered at the Motueka District Museum. Challis died in Nelson on 21 November 2010.

Recognition

In 2017 Challis was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "

150 women in 150 words The "150 women in 150 words" project was undertaken by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and published during their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017. The aim of the project was "celebrating women's contributions to expanding knowledge in New Z ...

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

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Challis, Alva 1930 births 2010 deaths 20th-century New Zealand geologists People from Port Talbot Alumni of the University of Cambridge Victoria University of Wellington alumni Welsh emigrants to New Zealand