Ronald Ian Currie

Ronald Ian Currie FRSE CBE (1928 – 1996) was a Scottish marine biologist. He was known generally as Ron Currie.

After early research into the analysis of plankton layers in the oceans using measurement of light penetration and audio signals, he was appointed director of the Scottish Marine Biological Association on the West Coast of Scotland.

Life

Born in Paisley on 10 October 1928, the son of Ronald Wavell Currie, a solicitor, he studied Zoology at Glasgow University graduating BSc with First Class Honours in 1949.^[1]

After a short time at the University of Copenhagen he joined the Royal Naval Scientific Service where he was seconded to the National Institute of Oceanography then in Wormley, Surrey. During this time he joined expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arabian Sea, on RRS William Scoresby and RRS Discovery, and in 1962 he became Head of Biology at the Institute.

In 1966 he returned to Scotland to become Director of the Scottish Marine Biological Association station at Millport on the island of Great Cumbrae, where he took on the relocation of the station to Dunstaffnage, near Oban, Argyll. Subsequently he was responsible for research projects throughout Scotland and the North Atlantic, and directed the development of the research vessels RRS Challenger, RV Calanus, and RV Seòl Mara.^[2]

Fellow of the Institute of Biology
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Secretary of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research
Secretary and President of the International Association of Biological Oceanography
Secretary of the Challenger Society for Marine Science
Committee Member on the Nature Conservancy Council
Vice President of the Marine Conservation Society

Ron was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1977 Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours List in recognition of his contribution to marine science. Heriot Watt University further granted him an honorary professorship in 1979.^[3]

A popular figure locally, Ron was for a time Chairman of the local Community Council, and did charitable work with the North British Hotels Trust and the Royal National Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen.

He retired in 1987, and died in Oban on 19 February 1996.

Publications

Organic Production in the Sea (1959)
The Benguela Current (1960)
Discovery: Britain’s Sea-going Research Laboratory (New Scientist 24 Jan 1963)

References

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "SAMS research vessels since 1882" (PDF). SAMS. Scottish Association for Marine Science. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[royalsoced.org.uk-1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] "SAMS research vessels since 1882" (PDF). SAMS. Scottish Association for Marine Science. Retrieved 19 February 2021.

[royalsoced.org.uk1-3] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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