Peter Barrett (geologist)

Peter John Barrett NZAM (born 11 August 1940) is a New Zealand geologist who came to prominence after discovering the first tetrapod fossils in Antarctica in 1967.[1]

Peter Barrett

NZAM
Barrett in 2010
Born (1940-08-11) 11 August 1940
Hamilton, New Zealand
Alma materOhio State University
Known forDiscovery of the first tetrapod fossils (Antarctica, 1967)
Spouse(s)
Maxine Frances Stone
​
​
(m. 1977)​
Children6
Scientific career
Institutions[Victoria University of Wellington]]
ThesisThe post-glacial Permian and Triassic Beacon rocks in the Beardmore Glacier area, central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica (1968)
Notable studentsNancy Bertler

Early life and family

Barrett was born in Hamilton on 11 August 1940, and educated at Hamilton High School.[2] He went on to study at Auckland University College from 1958 to 1962, graduating Bachelor of Science in 1961, and Master of Science in 1963.[2]

Barrett married Maxine Frances Stone in 1977; the couple had six children.[2]

Scientific career

Barrett first went to the Antarctica with the University of Wisconsin in 1962, but it was during his PhD with the Institute of Polar Studies at Ohio State University in 1966 and 1968 that Barrett discovered the early Triassic period tetrapod remains. After finishing his PhD, he took up a postdoctoral fellowship at Victoria University of Wellington to run an Antarctic expedition. Recent research has been core sampling in the Antarctic to determine historical conditions.[3]

He is currently professor in the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington and was director of the ARC from its founding in 1972 until 2007.[4] One of his PhD students was Nancy Bertler.[5] For many years he was the New Zealand representative on Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.[6]

Awards and honours

In 1978, Barrett was awarded the Polar Medal, for good services as a member of New Zealand expeditions to Antarctica in 1974–1975.[7] In 2004, he received the Marsden Medal for his lifetime contributions to science in New Zealand.[8] In 2006 he received the SCAR President's Medal for outstanding achievement in Antarctic science.[9] In the 2010 New Year Honours, Barrett was awarded the New Zealand Antarctic Medal for services to Antarctic science.[10] He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society in 2011.[6][11]

Barrett Glacier in the Prince Olav Mountains of Antarctica was named by the southern party of the 1963–1964 New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition for Barrett, who was the party's geologist.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Peter Barrett and Antarctica". nzhistory.net.nz. 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011. New Zealander Peter Barrett discovered the first tetrapod remains in Antarctica in 1967. Subsequent research that identified the remains provided the first evidence that land vertebrates had roamed Antarctica when its climate was warm, and lent support to the then controversial theories of continental drift and Gondwanaland. But Barrett's contribution to Antarctic science goes beyond his ‘serendipitous discovery' as a doctoral student. He has also been acknowledged as the 'supremo' of the geological drilling community in the Antarctic for his work in this area from the 1970s onwards.
  2. Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 57. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  3. "Antarctica — National Library of New Zealand". natlib.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011. These early projects eventually led to the multi-national Cape Roberts Project, headed by Barrett, now the director of the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University. During the late 1990s, three holes drilled near the edge of the mountains recovered a remarkable ‘sedimentary tape recorder’, confirming that massive ice sheets have covered Antarctica since around 34 million years ago. However, the ice cover was highly dynamic, coming and going in response to perturbations in the Earth’s orbit, known as Milankovitch cycles, which affect the amount of radiation the planet receives. For the past 15 million years, the size of the ice cap has been relatively stable.
  4. "History - Antarctic Research Centre." Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 2010. http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/history.aspx. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  5. "Dr Nancy Bertler". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  6. "Geological Society - Prof Peter Barrett". geolsoc.org.uk. 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  7. "Honours and awards" (PDF). New Zealand Gazette (33). 20 April 1978. p. 1155.
  8. "Older News - Antarctic Research Centre." Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 2010. http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/history.aspx. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  9. "SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research)". scar.org. 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  10. "New Year honours list 2010". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  11. "Victoria University Professor Peter Barrett Wins Prestigious Award". stuff.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011. Professor Barrett has been made an Honorary Fellow of the prestigious Geological Society of London, a title held by only 70 people worldwide.
  12. "Barrett Glacier". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
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