Beryl Brewin

{{short description|New Zealand zoologist (1910–1999)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Beryl Brewin | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Brewin Otago 737452.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Brewin in 1963 or earlier | birth_name = Beryl Iris Brewin | birth_date = 10 September 1910 | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|01|08|1910|09|10|df=y}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = Ascidian zoology | workplaces = [[University of Otago]] | patrons = | alma_mater = [[University of Auckland]], [[University of Otago]] | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = | spouse = | children = | thesis1_url = | thesis1_year = 1958 | thesis1_title = Papers on the class Ascidiacea, and on other marine topics : comprising a thesis presented for the degree of D.Sc., University of New Zealand }} '''Beryl Iris Brewin''' (10 September 1910 – 8 January 1999) was a New Zealand marine zoologist, specialising in [[Ascidiacea|ascidians]] (sea squirts).

== Academic career == Brewin was born 10 September 1910 to parents Lucy and Frank Brewin.<ref>Birth certificate 1910/22561, held by the Department of Internal Affairs</ref> She graduated from [[Auckland University College]] in 1931 with a [[Bachelor of Science]] in botany and zoology. This was followed by an MSc in botany in 1933.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1910-01-01|title=Brewin, Beryl Iris, 1910–|url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22506300|access-date=2021-01-02|website=Brewin, Beryl Iris, 1910– {{!}} Items {{!}} National Library of New Zealand {{!}} National Library of New Zealand|language=en}}</ref>

Brewin, described as a 'live wire', worked at the [[University of Otago]] Department of Zoology from 1936 to 1963.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Clarke|first=Ali|date=2016-03-27|title=Scientific women|url=https://otago150years.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/scientific-women/|access-date=2021-01-02|website=University of Otago 1869–2019|language=en|archive-date=2 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202030440/https://otago150years.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/scientific-women/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Beryl Brewin|url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1918-1967/beryl-brewin/|access-date=2021-01-02|website=Royal Society Te Apārangi|archive-date=24 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124152817/https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1918-1967/beryl-brewin/|url-status=live}}</ref> She had reached senior lecturer level when she retired.<ref>{{CiteQ|Q63406621}}</ref>

Brewin submitted her [[Doctor of Science]] thesis, consisting of 18 papers published between 1942 and 1957 to the [[University of New Zealand]] in 1958.<ref>{{CiteQ|Q104627173}}</ref> According to [[Global Biodiversity Information Facility|GBIF]], she named more than 80 species or genera from New Zealand and Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Search|url=https://www.gbif.org/species/search?q=brewin|access-date=2021-01-02|website=www.gbif.org|language=en}}</ref>

In 1954, Brewin was the second woman to be appointed to the Council of the [[Royal Society Te Apārangi]], after her colleague [[Marion Fyfe]], also from the Department of Zoology at Otago. Brewin served four years on the council.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=150 Years of Discovery|url=http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/807231/150-Years-of-Discovery/|access-date=2021-01-02|website=www.tiki-toki.com|archive-date=17 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117100543/http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/807231/150-Years-of-Discovery/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Brewin retired in 1963, and left nearly half a million dollars to the University of Otago in 1999, for the purposes of providing more comfortable accommodation for marine researchers at the [[Portobello Marine Laboratory|Portobello marine laboratory]].<ref>Death certificate 1999/1210 held by Department of Internal Affairs</ref> She also bequeathed $1 million for the purchase of a research vessel, the {{convert|10|m}} RV ''Beryl Brewin'' in her honour.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Friends|first=Alumni &|title=A Legacy for Excellence|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/alumni/donate/bequests/legacy.html|access-date=2021-01-02|website=www.otago.ac.nz|language=en-nz|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024151406/https://www.otago.ac.nz/alumni/donate/bequests/legacy.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, Brewin was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "[[150 women in 150 words]]", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.<ref name=":1" />

== Selected species named by Brewin ==

* ''[[Leptoclinides marmoreus]]'' Brewin, 1956 * ''[[Synoicum herdmani]]'' Brewin, 1956 * ''[[Arnbackia novaezelandiae]]'' Brewin, 1950 * ''[[Aplidium maritimum]]'' Brewin, 1958 * ''[[Aplidium knoxi]]'' Brewin, 1956 * ''[[Alloeocarpa minuta]]'' Brewin, 1951 * ''[[Botryllus stewartensis]]'' Brewin, 1958 * ''[[Pseudodistoma opacum]]'' Brewin, 1950 * ''[[Pyura rugata]]'' Brewin, 1948 * ''[[Aplidium benhami]]'' Brewin, 1946 * ''[[Aplidium siphonum]]'' Brewin, 1956 * ''[[Pyura carnea]]'' Brewin, 1948 * ''[[Leptoclinides sluiteri]]'' Brewin, 1950 * ''[[Ritterella sigillinoides]]'' Brewin, 1958 * ''[[Aplidium powelli]]'' Brewin, 1958 * ''[[Amaroucium maritimum]]'' Brewin, 1958 * ''[[Distaplia taylori]]'' Brewin, 1950

== Selected works ==

* {{CiteQ|Q89182689}} * {{CiteQ|Q89182832}} * {{CiteQ|Q89182884}} * {{CiteQ|Q89182966}} * {{CiteQ|Q89183310}} * {{CiteQ|Q89183373}} * {{CiteQ|Q104627162}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Scholia}} *[https://www.gbif.org/species/search?q=brewin Species named by Brewin (listed at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility)] *[https://bionomia.net/Q90874094 Specimens collected by Brewin, listed on Bionomia]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewin, Beryl}} [[Category:1910 births]] [[Category:1999 deaths]] [[Category:New Zealand women academics]] [[Category:University of Auckland alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Otago]] [[Category:New Zealand marine biologists]]