Kathleen Margaret Maria Sherrard (15 February 1898 – 21 August 1975) was an Australian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Early life and education

The daughter of John McInerny, a medical practitioner, and Margaratta Wright (née Brayshay), she was born Kathleen McInerny in North Carlton,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and later lived in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. She studied geology and chemistry at university, receiving a BSc (in 1918) and MSc (in 1921) from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and winning the Kernot and Caroline Kay research scholarships.

Career

McInerny became a demonstrator and then assistant geography lecturer at the University of Melbourne in 1919, supporting her family after her father's death. She was honorary secretary of the Victorian Women Graduates' Association from 1920 to 1928. She spent six months in 1927 working under Professor Arthur Hutchinson at the mineralogical laboratory of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, attending lectures in crystallography and mineralogy. From 1928 to 1938 she was honorary secretary of the Australian Federation of University Women. Prior to the 1960s it was difficult for married women to find employment in Australia, and her marriage in 1928 was the end of Sherrard's paid career in geosciences. Instead, she involved herself in social causes and self-funded her education and research. Sherrard was a member of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

, the

Royal Society of Victoria The Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) is the oldest scientific society in Victoria, Australia. Foundation In 1854 two organisations formed with similar aims and membership, these being the Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science (found ...

, the

Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succ ...

and the

Geological Society of Australia The Geological Society of Australia (GSA) was established as a non-profit organisation in 1952 to promote, advance and support earth sciences in Australia. The founding chairperson was Edwin Sherbon Hills. William Rowan Browne was a founder of t ...

. Professor Leo Cotton at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

granted her access to the facilities in the Geology Department and from the 1950s she was considered a staff member in the department. Sherrard switched from geology to palaeontology, becoming a keen palaeontologist. She worked on refining Ordovician to Silurian

graptolite Graptolites are a group of colonial animals, members of the subclass Graptolithina within the class Pterobranchia. These filter-feeding organisms are known chiefly from fossils found from the Middle Cambrian ( Miaolingian, Wuliuan) through t ...

zones and studying

tentaculites ''Tentaculites'' is an extinct genus of conical fossils of uncertain affinity, class Tentaculita, although it is not the only member of the class. It is known from Lower Ordovician to Upper Devonian deposits both as calcitic shells with a brach ...

and other invertebrates. She published 15 research papers in refereed journals between 1928 and 1975, attended domestic and international conferences and undertook fieldwork, sometimes taking her two sons with her. In 1939, Sherrard helped establish the Australian Association of Scientific Workers. In this role she convened a sub-committee which studied the effects of nutrition on child growth and worked on problems of food storage and distribution in the event of any large scale evacuation from cities during World War II. Toward the end of World War II, Sherrard published a paper in the ''Australian Women's Digest'', which challenged women pursuing science careers to think about their future. In 1950 she spent three months at the

and the

Sedgwick Museum The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, is the geology museum of the University of Cambridge. It is part of the Department of Earth Sciences and is located on the university's Downing Site in Downing Street, central Cambridge, England. The Sedg ...

studying under Dr

Gertrude Elles Gertrude Lilian Elles MBE (8 October 1872 – 18 November 1960) was a British geologist, known for her work on graptolites. Personal life Gertrude Elles was born on 8 October 1872. She was the youngest of six children and growing up was ...

, and in 1967 examined fossil collections in Peking (later Beijing). She tried to promote an increased involvement by women in science.

Recognition

Her papers were donated to the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...

, Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection. A species of graptolite is named for her - ''Monograptus sherrardae''.

Personal life

In 1928, she married Howard Macoun Sherrard; the couple had two sons. They moved to Sydney after their marriage.

Death

Sherrard died at home in Centennial Park, Sydney in 1975, at the age of 77. She was survived by her husband and sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherrard, Kathleen 1898 births 1975 deaths Australian women geologists University of Melbourne alumni 20th-century Australian women scientists Scientists from Melbourne Australian paleontologists Australian women paleontologists