Robert Endean

Robert Endean (1925–1997) was an Australian marine scientist and academic at the University of Queensland.[1]

Robert Endean
Robert Endean on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia in 1954. Photo used with the courtesy of the State Library of Queensland
Born1925 (1925)
Abermain, New South Wales, Australia
Died(1997-10-06)6 October 1997
Heron Island, Queensland, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of Sydney, University of Queensland
Scientific career
FieldsMarine Biologist

Early life

Robert Endean was born in December 1925 in Abermain, New South Wales, and was raised in Abernethy. He attended Cessnock High School[2] and won a scholarship to study at the University of Sydney taking a B.Sc. with Honours in zoology in 1948[3] and a University Gold Medal.[4] He took his M.Sc from the same university in 1949, supervised by the marine biologist, Professor William Dakin. He took his PhD at the University of Queensland in 1958.

Career

Endean worked as a secretary, and later chair and president, of the Great Barrier Reef Committee from 1954 to 1975. It was during this time that the Heron Island Research Station passed to the control of the University of Queensland. Endean took up work as an assistant lecturer in 1950, rising to the position of reader in 1964 at the University of Queensland.

Endean's primary research was the study of the toxicology of marine organisms.[5] particularly the crown-of-thorns starfish, acanthaster planci.[6] He became an advocate for the environmental protection of the reef,[7] principally from the crown of thorns starfish,[8] and his publications and outreach work into the impacts of the starfish on coral ecology, led to the formation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) in 1975.[1][9]

Endean accompanied Hans Hass on his first expedition to the Great Barrier Reef.[2] In 1967, Endean accompanied the Belgian Scientific Expedition that conducted studies of the Great Barrier Reef.[10]

In the 1960s, Endean worked with Roche Laboratories[11] to establish a research base at the Heron Island Research Station and study a number of active compounds found in marine organisms for medical research.[1] He published 160 scientific papers and books during his career. His report prepared for the Queensland government into the outbreak of the crown of thorns starfish outbreak was dismissed in 1970.[12] A later report to the Commonwealth government was also tabled, for which Endean continued to provide research submissions.[13]

Endean was a member of the World Health Organisation's Expert Advisory Committee on Food Additives. He was deputy chair of the Heron Island board which oversaw the research station. He was a spokesperson on reef ecology,[14] and had advised the community widely on toxins and marine pharmacology and biology.[1] Endean retired from the University of Queensland in 1990, after 40 years of association with the Zoology Department.[1]

Legacy

Endean died on 6 October 1997 on Heron Island, shortly before he was due to give an address at the Australian Coral Reef Society. He was survived by his partner, Dr Ann Cameron, with whom he worked[15] and daughter Dr Coralie Endean.

A reef was named for him – the Bob Endean Reef off Mission Beach, Queensland.[16]

References
  1. "Respected marine scientist Dr Robert Endean dies after heart attack". UQ News. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  2. "Hall of Fame – Science". Cessnock City Council. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  3. "26 Apr 1948 - "GO ALL OUT FOR AUTONOMY"". Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser. 26 April 1948. p. 5. Retrieved 13 March 2017 – via Trove.
  4. "ASPECTS OF THE WORK OF DR ROBERT ENDEAN (1925-1997): AUSTRALIAN MARINE BIOLOGIST AND TOXINOLOGIST". Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  5. "FLUORIDATION LAW EXPECTED SOON". The Canberra Times. 13 June 1963. p. 2. Retrieved 13 March 2017 – via Trove.
    - John Noble Wilford (4 August 1981). "Jellyfish's Fearsome Reputation Is Worse Than Its Sting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  6. "Saving a wonder of the world". The Canberra Times. 13 September 1968. p. 2. Retrieved 13 March 2017 – via Trove.
  7. "Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Annual Report 2014-2015" (PDF). 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  8. "Barrier Reef being 'devoured'". The Canberra Times. 7 February 1970. p. 3. Retrieved 13 March 2017 – via Trove.
  9. "Oceanguard – Save the Barrier Reef Now". Oceanguard – Save the Barrier Reef Now. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  10. Harding, John H. (6 July 2012). "The Coral Sea (Australia): No.10 THE BELGIAN EXPEDITION (1967)". The Coral Sea (Australia). Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  11. Rae, Ian D. (1 January 2010). "Marine Pharmacology in Australia. The Roche Research Institute at Dee Why, New South Wales, 1974-81". Australian Journal of Chemistry. 63 (6): 855. doi:10.1071/CH10073. ISSN 0004-9425.
  12. "CRUSADER OF THE REEF ……. Dr Robert Endean". John Harding. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  13. PROTECTION OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: Report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Conservation November 1985 (PDF). Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. 1985. ISBN 0-644-04543-4.
  14. Scott, David Clark (24 August 1988). "Starfish threaten Australia's Great Barrier Reef – and tourism. Scientists debate cause, remedy for outbreak of Crown of Thorns". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  15. "College News – Leading Zoologist Leaves Lasting Impression". Fairholme College Toowoomba. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  16. "Reef named in honour of UQ marine advocate". UQ News. Retrieved 13 March 2017.


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