Dorothy Hill The Amazon of the Coral Seas There are few geologists in the history of science who have received as many distinctions and tributes as the Australian Dorothy Hill, recognised worldwide as an authority on palaeontology. Her research focused on the fossil remains of small invertebrates that live in large colonies in tropical and subtropical seas, today representing one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth: corals. Dorothy Hill was born on 10th September 1907 in Brisbane, a cosmopolitan city bathed by the clear waters of the Coral Sea. She was the third of seven children and grew up in a modest family with no connection to science. According to family memories, Dorothy had a keen mind and began to excel in her studies at an early age. Her school life can be summed up in a succession of scholarships and achievements that allowed her to enter (at the age of 17) the Faculty of Science at the University of Queensland. There, her original vocation for chemistry took a turn. Thanks to the influence of Professor H.C. Richards, an enthusiastic geologist much appreciated by the students, Dorothy ended up graduating in geology in 1928. And she did it in style: with a gold medal for exceptional merit. The young Hill excelled not only in her studies, but also in sports. She did athletics, swimming, rowing... And she distinguished herself in the university’s women’s hockey team. But if there is one symbolic image of Dorothy Hill, it is that of a horsewoman, since much of her field work was done on horseback. It was in this guise that she undertook her earliest research, riding through the fossil seas of Western Australia in search of carboniferous coral outcrops. Dorothy Hill went to England in 1931 after being awarded a PhD scholarship by Cambridge University. The young Australian found her way to meet the great British palaeontologists of the time. She gained a solid grounding in her subject, the palaeontology of marine invertebrates, and adopted a rigorous approach to scientific work that she applied for the rest of her life. At the same time, Dorothy’s adventurous streak ran wild in the green English countryside: she obtained a licence to fly light aircraft and, as a keen driver, took part in car races. She remained in England until 1937, accepting the urging of her beloved professor, Dr Richards, to return to her home university. Back to Australia, she began an unparalleled scientific career, not only as a researcher at the University of Queensland but also as a consultant to the oil industry, applying her advanced knowledge of stratigraphy. Her fruitful career was only interrupted during the Second World War, when Dorothy joined the Australian Naval Service to lead a message decryption and coding team. Again, the intrepid Hill. This great Amazon of geology left a huge legacy of scientific papers and publications, as well as a trail of firsts: she was the first female professor at an Australian university (1959) and the first female president of the Australian Academy of Science (1970). She died in Brisbane on 23rd April 1997. We should not expect the world to give us what we think we deserve. 23
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