Spooner, Molly (1914–1997)

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Spooner, Molly (1914–1997)

English marine biologist. Name variations: Mary Florence Mare; Mary Florence Spooner. Born Mary Florence Mare, July 10, 1914, in Birmingham, England; died Aug 27, 1997; Newnham College, Cambridge, MA, PhD, 1941; m. Malcolm Spooner (zoologist), May 14, 1943; children: 2.

Internationally recognized expert on oil spills, served as a researcher at the Scottish Marine Biological Association Laboratory, Milport (1942–45), as a part-time Plymouth school teacher (1955–58) and as a Marine Biological Association Laboratory researcher at Plymouth (1967–76); researched food chains of a marine benthic community for PhD and the antifouling of ships; assisted husband on a study of dwarf oak trees in Wistman's Wood; after the Torrey Canyon accident west of the Scilly Isles, worked with a team to study the effects of the oil spill; was one of the 1st to recognize that the use of dispersants could cause more harm than the effects of the oil alone; appointed advisor on oil pollution precautions and procedures for Department of the Environment (1973). Made Member of the Order of the British Empire (1977).