Nancy Kirk

Nancy Kirk originally lived in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire from her birth (1916), until 1935 when she left her hometown to attend Newnham College, Cambridge. Nancy and her brother were raised mainly by their father. Their mother had died when Nancy was very young. Born into a poor family, her father had worked at a local factory, meaning she was used to living a simple way of life even having to bicycle home after school terms. Despite her financial difficulties when she was younger, Nancy made use of her time and money putting it into the things she had a passion for. One of these passions was museum artifacts, she saved most of her money to put towards the pieces that she admired.[3]

After being awarded the opportunity to study in the faculty of natural sciences of Newnham College, she moved to Cambridge. Nancy was originally interested in studying biological plant sciences, but found herself quickly losing interest because of how her classes were taught. Due to her lack of interest in botany, Nancy explored other scientific fields and developed a newfound interest in geology, she accredited this new interest to a few professors who inspired her: Brian Harland, Teddy Bullard, and Professor O. T. Jones.[2]

As of 1939 she was unable to obtain a degree (due to her gender), but she still excelled in achieving high grades through her studies in geology. Nancy excelled in geology, winning awards like the Bathurst Prize. She was able to begin her research under her professor O. T. Jones. Nancy left Cambridge in the wake of World War II when she was sent to work at the Royal Ordnance Factory in 1942. Shortly after the war, in 1945 Nancy was able to return to Cambridge. She remained at Cambridge for the rest of her studies and received her PhD later in 1949, this was when females could finally receive degrees. After receiving her doctorate, Kirk went to work in Birmingham at the University for 2 years before moving to live in her area of research, a country between Pontfaen, Breconshire, and Presteigne, Radnorshire.[3]

In 1942 her research was put aside due to World War II. She returned to Cambridge in 1945 on a two year Jenner Research Fellowship. Nancy’s research took a vast majority of her time, especially her work on graptolites in the 1970s.[3]

After receiving her PhD in 1949, she continued her geological mapping. Nancy became an assistant lecturer then eventually a full lecturer in 1955. Nancy was known to care a lot for her students to succeed and put a lot of effort into her teaching. She presented her ideas about the evolutions of the graptolites in the late 1960s and carried out her research until her official retirement in 1983. Nancy began a major study on graptolites with the help from Dr. Denis Bates although their work remains to be published.[5]

Her research in the 1980's when she was working with the University Collage of Wales, in Aberystwyth began to focus on graptolites.[6]

In the 1950s Nancy had done a lot of fieldwork and presented this at meetings of the Geological Society of London. In one of these meetings only men could attend (a geological dining club), so Nancy was unable to attend. Her PhD was impressive, but the map that she submitted to get published was more descriptive and covered a larger area than her PhD did. She received backlash from editors and referees telling her that the map was large and had too much detail. She defended her paper by explaining how the information she had was important because it was critical for comprehending the map. She was able to convince them of the importance of the detail, but she had to shorten her paper because the Geological Society could not print long papers during this time due to rationing.[3]

Due to this imposed limitation, she had to shorten her work. As a result, she created three draft texts. These draft texts still exist today and so do her field slips, however the original map cannot be found.  

In 1954 she was awarded the Murchison Fund for the work she accomplished.[3]

In the 1960s Nancy originally used graptolites for identification and correlation in her research after her professor O.T.’s lead. This was because the graptolites burst in population beginning in about the mid-Cambrian fossil records and the suddenly nearly vanished from record about 200 million years later (they were a useful index fossil). Her findings were far more Jurassic than she had originally envisioned, graptolites then became her main focus of study by this fluke mistake. Reviewing her paleontology work from previous years before teachers she gaged an interest in graptolites and their sexual dimorphism.

Kirk then worked on the studying the graptolite with Dennis Bates. Her success was largely due to the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to examine specimens and her collaboration with other previous works.[3] She used this research and SEM photos to publish a paper about her extrapolations regarding the nature of the "soft parts" of these organisms, as there have only been carbonized fossils of skeletal remains ("hard parts") found. She was also, in unison, exploring how graptolites lived. There is some debate on both of these subjects and the evidence we have is limited, we do not have early life fossils of the young graptolites. Kirk and Bates proposed this may be because graptolites were born as small larva that would be too soft to fossilize, then later in life once they attached themselves to the ocean floor, they would then harden or solidify and this could potentially be the fossils we have found today.[6]

While at Newnham College, Cambridge, she received the Bathurst Prize, a Harkness Scholarship, and a Bathurst Research Studentship.[5] In 1954, Kirk won The Murchison Fund of The Geological Society of the UK.[7]

Nancy Kirk Viewpoint, Pant Da Nature Reserve

She is fondly remembered by her students for her generosity, and colorful language. She actively put time into caring for her students and properly teaching the curriculum. Kirk put effort into the brightest and weakest students equally, making sure all her students moved forward and were able to learn what she was teaching. In contrast, back when she was working in the Royal Ordinance Factory (1942-1945), she boisterously challenged authority with her own ideas on how to run the factory more efficiently. This landed her a ban from "any further checking of machinery".[2]

Nancy Kirk was someone who preferred to live in isolation, and be able to spend time in her gardens as she had a taste for naturism.[3] She also had an interest in art, which lead her to start pottery and become quite talented at it, especially when it came to making the glazes. Nancy Kirk also worked with a colleague from her department Bill Fitches, who provided her with the pots to use. Nancy Kirk, dedicated to her work and her garden, lived independently and never ended up marrying.[5]

It was reported on her death that she was a committed Marxist, the Red Flag was played at her service.[8]

After her death, the Nancy Kirk Viewpoint was created through donations by former students and colleagues, it is situated at the northernmost point of Pant Da nature reserve.[9]