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David D. Wynn-Williams (1946–2002)
Spectrochimica Acta Part A 59 (2003) 2199 www.elsevier.com/locate/saa
Obituary
David D. Wynn-Williams (1946 2002) /
Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society; Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society; Polar Medal (1980)
David Donaldson Wynn-Williams, born 16th July, 1946, in West Kirby, Cheshire, UK and Founding Editor of the International Journal of Astrobiology , met with a fatal accident on 24th March, 2002, which left his colleagues and family deeply saddened. David Wynn-Williams, an active participant in GeoRaman IV at Valladolid, Spain, was a member of the Scientific Committee for GeoRaman V in Prague. David’s enthusiasm for astronomy began when he was 7 years old. As his scientific career developed he became focused on biological questions. He joined the British Antarctic Survey in 1974 and began to ask questions about how microorganisms survived the intense desiccation and ultraviolet radiation regimens imposed upon them by the polar desert. Throughout these years he continued to harbour an interest in space sciences. In 1999 when he was asked to establish the British Antarctic Astrobiology Project he found an opportunity to link his interests to the full, David began an extraordinary period of scientific productivity and established the British Antarctic Survey as a focal point for astrobiology activity in the UK and internationally. The focus of David’s research on the survival strategies of extremophiles in the harsh terrestrial
environments of the Antarctic Dry Valleys resulted in several high-profile collaborations in microbiology, biogeological modifications and the detection of biomolecular markers in the geological record. All of these areas are active in the GeoRaman theme. It is perhaps fitting that the survival strategies of organisms in that harsh terrestrial environment of the Antarctic, so beloved by David, should be instrumental in our understanding of astrobiology and in development of strategies for the detection of relict or extant life through biomolecular signatures. In 1996 he published the seminal ‘Nature’ article with Cynan Ellis-Evans on ‘Vostok: the great lake under the ice’; now, Lake Vostok is the novel subject of potential extremophile studies which could have direct bearing on the exobiology and future exploration of Europa, the ice-covered moon of Jupiter. He published over 100 research papers and collaborated with scientists in many countries, several of whom are contributing to the papers in this Special Issue. His infectious enthusiasm for the interdisciplinary research work which characterised astrobiology will be sadly missed.
1386-1425/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. doi:10.1016/S1386-1425(03)00062-3
Howell Edwards
Obituary
David D. Wynn-Williams (1946 2002) /
Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society; Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society; Polar Medal (1980)
David Donaldson Wynn-Williams, born 16th July, 1946, in West Kirby, Cheshire, UK and Founding Editor of the International Journal of Astrobiology , met with a fatal accident on 24th March, 2002, which left his colleagues and family deeply saddened. David Wynn-Williams, an active participant in GeoRaman IV at Valladolid, Spain, was a member of the Scientific Committee for GeoRaman V in Prague. David’s enthusiasm for astronomy began when he was 7 years old. As his scientific career developed he became focused on biological questions. He joined the British Antarctic Survey in 1974 and began to ask questions about how microorganisms survived the intense desiccation and ultraviolet radiation regimens imposed upon them by the polar desert. Throughout these years he continued to harbour an interest in space sciences. In 1999 when he was asked to establish the British Antarctic Astrobiology Project he found an opportunity to link his interests to the full, David began an extraordinary period of scientific productivity and established the British Antarctic Survey as a focal point for astrobiology activity in the UK and internationally. The focus of David’s research on the survival strategies of extremophiles in the harsh terrestrial
environments of the Antarctic Dry Valleys resulted in several high-profile collaborations in microbiology, biogeological modifications and the detection of biomolecular markers in the geological record. All of these areas are active in the GeoRaman theme. It is perhaps fitting that the survival strategies of organisms in that harsh terrestrial environment of the Antarctic, so beloved by David, should be instrumental in our understanding of astrobiology and in development of strategies for the detection of relict or extant life through biomolecular signatures. In 1996 he published the seminal ‘Nature’ article with Cynan Ellis-Evans on ‘Vostok: the great lake under the ice’; now, Lake Vostok is the novel subject of potential extremophile studies which could have direct bearing on the exobiology and future exploration of Europa, the ice-covered moon of Jupiter. He published over 100 research papers and collaborated with scientists in many countries, several of whom are contributing to the papers in this Special Issue. His infectious enthusiasm for the interdisciplinary research work which characterised astrobiology will be sadly missed.
1386-1425/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. doi:10.1016/S1386-1425(03)00062-3
Howell Edwards