[Aqualist] Passing of Lloyd Burckle (micropalaeontologist - diatomist)

[Leanne Armand]

Passing on the sad news of the passing of Dr Lloyd Burckle: diatomist.


Lloyd Burckle passed away in November in Falmouth, Maine, after a long
battle with Parkinson’s Disease.   He was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in
1931 and completed his PhD in 1971 (title “Late Cenozoic diatoms from the
eastern equatorial Pacific”) at New York University, after obtaining his BS
and MS degrees from Brigham Young University.   He spent most of his career
at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, starting in
1961 as a Research Scientist and continuing through 2010 as a Senior
Research Scientist (and adjunct).



Lloyd was a pioneer of the application of diatoms to paleoceanography,
recognizing that their surface distribution in ocean cores reflected
biologic productivity and the position of oceanic surface water frontal
systems.  He is remembered as a broad thinker who was most enjoyable and
helpful to discuss problems with because of his open mindedness and his
depth of knowledge in the earth sciences.  Lloyd’s research in the
equatorial Pacific and in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica helped form
the basis of diatom biostratigraphy and the refined the use of diatoms as
an important tool for paleoclimatology.  One of his most widely remembered
contributions was his proposal that the superior tonal qualities of the
violins of Stradivari and his contemporary instrument makers in Cremona
were the result of climate change, specifically the effect of the Maunder
Minimum on the growth of the trees from which wood was used to craft the
instruments (http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news/2003/12_03_03.htm)

Lloyd taught numerous students and colleagues, always freely sharing his
ideas and research in a very enthusiastic yet gentle manner.  He enjoyed
encouraging his students to think for themselves, and inspired many to the
subject of diatom research.



We warmly remember him as a distinguished researcher, teacher, and
welcoming colleague.



Sincerely,



John Barron, Rainer Gersonde, Cathy Stickley, and Leanne Armand

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Dr Leanne Armand
Senior Researcher/Lecturer
Climate Futures at Macquarie - Department of Biological Sciences
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Macquarie University
North Ryde, NSW, 2109.
Australia.

E-mail: leanne.armand at mq.edu.au
Ph: +61 (0)2 9850 8351
Fax: + 61 (0)2 9850 8245

Location: Building E8C, Room 157.

LAB WEBSITE
https://sites.google.com/site/marinephytoplanktonlab/home

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