Keith Andrew Hunter (24 November 1951 – 24 October 2018) was a New Zealand ocean chemist who was a professor of chemistry and pro-vice-chancellor of sciences, at the University of Otago.[1]
Keith Hunter | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hunter in 2007 | |
| Born | Keith Andrew Hunter 24 November 1951 |
| Died | 24 October 2018 (aged 66) Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland University of East Anglia |
| Awards | Marsden Medal (2014) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ocean chemistry |
| Institutions | University of Otago |
| Thesis | Chemistry of the sea surface microlayer (1977) |
| Doctoral students | Tuifuisa’a Patila Amosa |
Biography
editBorn on 24 November 1951, Hunter was the son of Nevin Lindsay Hunter and Othle May Hunter (née Brenton).[2] He was educated at Auckland Grammar School, graduated from the University of Auckland with a first-class degree in chemistry in 1974, and completed his PhD at the University of East Anglia in 1977.[3] He then spent a year at the French Atomic Energy Commission.[2]
Hunter joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Otago as a lecturer in 1979, rising to become a full professor in 1994.[2][3] His research focused on trace metals in natural waters, particularly in the ocean, and chemical equilibria in marine and freshwater systems.[2] He found that the productivity of phytoplankton in much of the oceans is limited by the availability of iron.[2]
Hunter served a term as president of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, and was involved in the establishment of the NIWA/University of Otago Joint Institute for Oceanography in 1996.[2][3] He was awarded the Prime Minister's Science Prize in 2011 and the Marsden Medal in 2014, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1997.[4][5][6]
Hunter retired as pro vice chancellor of sciences at Otago in 2016 after six years in the position, and died at his home in Dunedin on 24 October 2018.[2][7]
Notable students of Hunter include Tuifuisaʻa Patila Amosa.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Chris de Freitas and Keith Hunter: The great climate debate". The New Zealand Herald. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g McPhee, Elena (22 December 2018). "Respected academic and climate change researcher". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ a b c "University appoints new Pro-Vice-Chancellor". University of Otago. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ "The Academy: G–I". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ "NZ wildlife could one day be predator-free". The New Zealand Herald. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ^ "Professor Keith Hunter". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ "Former uni science leader Keith Hunter dies". Otago Daily Times. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ Amosa, Patila (2015). The Dissolution Kinetics of Calcium Carbonate in Seawater: Development and Application of an Automated pH-stat Method for the Measurement of Dissolution Rates (Doctoral thesis). OUR Archive, University of Otago. hdl:10523/5461.