Keith Alan Waterhouse Crook (3 August 1933 - 18 February 2020) 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

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Branwh ...

ist.

Education

Keith Crook attended

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1944-1949) and 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 ...

from whence he graduated as a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in 1954 and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in 1956. He then did a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

from 1956 until 1959, followed by postdoctoral studies at 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 the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, Canada, from 1959 until 1961.

Teaching career

In 1961, Crook took a position at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(ANU) teaching

sedimentology Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of m ...

and

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

. He undertook research in New Guinea and

Tumut, New South Wales Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

. This research was concerned with the tectonic development of sedimentary basins. In mid-1992 Crook was appointed to a position at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

as Science Program Director of the Undersea Laboratory. He returned to the ANU as a visiting fellow in mid-2004, where he continued his research until 2017. In 2008 a new species of prehistoric armoured lobe-finned fish discovered near

Eden, New South Wales Eden is a coastal town in the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is south of the States and territories of Australia, state capital Sydney and is the most southerly town in New South Wales, ...

by a team of ANU scientists was named '' Edenopteron keithcrooki'', in honour of Keith Crook. This was in recognition of Crook's discovery of several fossil sites in New South Wales, plus coordinating the mapping of a large area around Eden and Twofold Bay by staff and students of his at the ANU.

Pacifism and political involvement

In 1955 he was drafted into military service, which crystallized his disquiet on the use of war and violence as political tools, and he subsequently was granted an exemption as a conscientious objector. Around this time he started attending Quaker meetings, whose Peace testimony accorded with his own thoughts, and he joined as a member in 1958. In 1963 Crook joined the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

and stood as a candidate in the 1969 federal election for the seat of Bradfield. Dr Crook served as a long-term scientific policy advisor for the Australian Labor Party, commencing under

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

. In 1970 he presented the James Backhouse Lecture in Melbourne, entitled “Security for Australia?”.Backhouse Lecture
/ref>

Personal life

Crook was the son of Alan Crook and Muriel Waterhouse. He met and married Norma Jean Fuller in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1961 and they had three children. After divorcing he married Dr Anne Felton. Crook died on 18 February 2020 in Eden, shortly after returning from evacuation during the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season commenced with serious uncontrolled fires in June 2019. , fires this season have burned an estimated , destroyed over 5,900 buildings (including 2,779 homes) and killed at least 34 people. An estimated o ...

Honours

Crook was awarded the

by 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 ...

in 1983.

Publications

*''Security for Australia'' by Dr K.A.W. Crook (Sydney: Australian Yearly Meeting, 1970) *''The geological evolution of Australia & New Zealand'' by D. A. Brown, K. S. W. Campbell, K. A. W. Crook (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1968) *''Manual of sedimentary structures'' by C.E.B. Conybeare and K.A.W. Crook (Canberra: Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, 1968) *'' Tasman Orogen Profile'' by M.J. Rickard and K.A.W. Crook (Sydney : Dept. of Mineral Resources, 1985) *''The Concorde SST and Australia - problems in open assessment of specialised technology'' by M.C. Anderson, K.A.W. Crook and M.O. Diesendorf (Canberra : Society for Social Responsibility in Science, 1974)National Library of Australia Catalogue
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crook, Keith 1933 births 2020 deaths Australian geologists Australian Methodists Australian Quakers People educated at Newington College