Mary Florence "Molly" Mare (10 July 1914 – 27 August 1997), married name Spooner, was a British

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology clas ...

who introduced the term

meiobenthos Meiobenthos, also called meiofauna, are small benthic invertebrates that live in marine or freshwater environments, or both. The term ''meiofauna'' loosely defines a group of organisms by their sizelarger than microfauna but smaller than macr ...

in 1942. She was also an internationally recognized expert on

oil spills An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

."Spooner, Molly (1914–1997)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages.

Significant research

Mare's study of marine food cycle in sea mud led her to introduce the new term

to join the terminology of macrobenthos and microbenthos. This has to allow improved understanding of marine organisms involved in these cycles through clearer reference to groupings by size. The importance of this approach is shown by the continuous reference to her work by other marine biologists into the 21st century. Following the grounding of the oil tanker ''Torrey Canyon'' on the west of the

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point, and has the souther ...

, Mare returned to her life as a researcher after taking a break during the 1950s. She studied the effects of the oil spill and contributed to the book on the disastrous oil spill called ''Torrey Canyon Pollution and Marine Life'' (1970). A tool called a

dispersant A dispersant or a dispersing agent is a substance, typically a surfactant, that is added to a suspension of solid or liquid particles in a liquid (such as a colloid or emulsion) to improve the separation of the particles and to prevent their sett ...

was used to try to clean up this oil spill and Mare was one of the first people to recognize that these could be causing more damage than the oil spill itself. This research led her to be known as an oil spill expert to the rest of the world.

Early career and life

Mare won a scholarship to

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, Cambridge where she began her studies of marine biology. In 1936 she took part in the Easter class of the

Marine Biological Association The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel Hil ...

(MBA). Mare received a Bathurst Research Studentship in 1938, following her graduation from Newnham. In 1939 she received a Maitland Balfour Research Studentship. These Studentships allowed her to spend two years at the MBA in Plymouth where she primarily started her career.

Personal life

Molly F. Mare married Malcolm Spooner, a zoologist at the Marine Biological Association Laboratory on 14 May 1943. Until 1945 she lived away from her husband while she conducted research on

antifouling Biofouling or biological fouling is the accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals where it is not wanted on surfaces such as ship and submarine hulls, devices such as water inlets, pipework, grates, ponds, and rivers that ...

of ships at the Millport Marine Laboratory located near Glasgow. They had two children, including Heather. In 1948 the family of four moved to

Crapstone Crapstone is a village in the county of Devon. The village is located on the edge of Dartmoor, in the parish of Buckland Monachorum and is approximately from the village of Yelverton, from the city of Plymouth and from Tavistock. History Du ...

. Her husband, Malcolm Spooner, worked on a long-term study of dwarf oak trees in

Wistman's Wood Wistman's Wood is one of Britain's last remaining ancient temperate rainforests and one of three remote high-altitude oakwoods on Dartmoor in Devon, England. The first written document to mention Wistman's Wood date to the 17th century, while ...

and she helped him significantly with this work. They also undertook recording work for the ''Atlas of the Devon Flora'' (1984).

Awards and recognition

In 1973 Mare was appointed the Department of the Environment's advisor on oil pollution precautions and procedures. After she retired from active research in 1976, she was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1977 for her work on the effect of oil pollution on marine life. She was a founding member of the

Devon Wildlife Trust The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1961 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's ...

and was its vice president in 1987. Her bequest to the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom was to encourage undergraduate students to experience marine biological research every year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mare, Molly F. 1914 births 1997 deaths English marine biologists Women marine biologists 20th-century British zoologists Scientists from Birmingham, West Midlands Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge