E. Alison Kay
Encyclopedia
E. Alison Kay was a malacologist, environmentalist
, and professor
at the University of Hawaii
. She was born in Eleele and grew up on the island of Kauai
in the Territory of Hawaii
, graduated from Punahou School
in 1946, and obtained her first B.A. from Mills College
in 1950. She then went on to earn another B.A. in 1952 and an M.A. in 1956 from Cambridge University as a Fulbright scholar before returning to the University of Hawaii, where she completed her dissertation in 1957. She is best known for her work, Hawaiian Marine Shells (1979).
mollusks in the Indo-Pacific
region, and she regularly offered a graduate course in taxonomy
and systematics
, and another in biogeography
, emphasizing in particular the ecology
and distribution of island mollusks. Her dissertation was on cowrie shells and Cypraea
alisonae was named for her.
She believed strongly in general education, was assigned to the Dept. of General Science until 1982 (when she moved to Zoology), and was one of the most engaging lecturers in the large survey courses taught at the Varsity Theater off-campus. In later years, she taught a popular course in the natural history of the Hawaiian Islands
, for which she edited a textbook in 1994. She also served at various times as dean of graduate students, as department head, and as a member of the Faculty Senate. She was the longest-serving editor in chief of the journal Pacific Science
, overseeing almost every issue between 1972 and 2000.
Active in many environmental projects, she helped found the Save Diamond Head
Association, conducted research on the effects of the atomic bomb in the Marshall Islands
, and did pioneering research on micromollusks for biomonitoring. Her research on the ecology of opihi (limpets) helped shape state regulations limiting opihi collection.
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
, and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
. She was born in Eleele and grew up on the island of Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
in the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...
, graduated from Punahou School
Punahou School
Punahou School, once known as Oahu College, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu in the U.S. State of Hawaii...
in 1946, and obtained her first B.A. from Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
in 1950. She then went on to earn another B.A. in 1952 and an M.A. in 1956 from Cambridge University as a Fulbright scholar before returning to the University of Hawaii, where she completed her dissertation in 1957. She is best known for her work, Hawaiian Marine Shells (1979).
Career
Her research focused on marineMarine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
mollusks in the Indo-Pacific
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...
region, and she regularly offered a graduate course in taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
and systematics
Systematics
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of terrestrial life, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees...
, and another in biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
, emphasizing in particular the ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and distribution of island mollusks. Her dissertation was on cowrie shells and Cypraea
Cypraea
Cypraea is a genus of medium-sized to large sea snails or cowries, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.-Species:Species within the genus Cypraea include:* Cypraea pantherina Lightfoot, 1786...
alisonae was named for her.
She believed strongly in general education, was assigned to the Dept. of General Science until 1982 (when she moved to Zoology), and was one of the most engaging lecturers in the large survey courses taught at the Varsity Theater off-campus. In later years, she taught a popular course in the natural history of the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, for which she edited a textbook in 1994. She also served at various times as dean of graduate students, as department head, and as a member of the Faculty Senate. She was the longest-serving editor in chief of the journal Pacific Science
Pacific Science
Pacific Science is an international, multidisciplinary, academic journal devoted to the biological and physical sciences of the Pacific basin, focusing especially on biogeography, ecology, evolution, geology and volcanology, oceanography, palaeontology, and systematics...
, overseeing almost every issue between 1972 and 2000.
Active in many environmental projects, she helped found the Save Diamond Head
Diamond Head, Hawaii
Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and known to Hawaiians as Lēahi, most likely from lae 'browridge, promontory' plus ahi 'tuna' because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin...
Association, conducted research on the effects of the atomic bomb in the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
, and did pioneering research on micromollusks for biomonitoring. Her research on the ecology of opihi (limpets) helped shape state regulations limiting opihi collection.
Selected works
- 1994. A Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands: Selected Readings II (Honolulu: University of Hawaii PressUniversity of Hawaii PressThe University of Hawaii Press is a university press that is part of the University of Hawaii.The University of Hawaii Press was founded in 1947, with the mission of advancing and disseminating scholarship by publishing current research in all disciplines of the humanities and natural and social...
), ISBN 978-0-8248-1659-9. - 1991. Shells of Hawaii (Honolulu: University of Hawaii PressUniversity of Hawaii PressThe University of Hawaii Press is a university press that is part of the University of Hawaii.The University of Hawaii Press was founded in 1947, with the mission of advancing and disseminating scholarship by publishing current research in all disciplines of the humanities and natural and social...
) (with Olive Schoenberg-Dole), ISBN 978-0-8248-1316-1. - 1991. The marine mollusks of the Galapagos: Determinants of insular marine fauna," in Galapagos Marine Invertebrates (New York: Plenum Press), 235-252.
- 1990. "The Cypraeidae of the Indo-Pacific: Cenozoic phylogeny and biogeography," Bulletin of Marine Science 47:23-24.
- 1987. "Endemism and evolution in Hawaiian Marine invertebrates," Trends in Ecology and Evolution 2:183-186 (with S. Palumbi).
- 1987. "The Mollusca of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands," in The Natural History of Enewetak Atoll (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Energy) (with S. Johnson).
- 1984. "Patterns of speciation in the Indo-West Pacific," in Biogeography of the Tropical Pacific (Association of Systematics Collections and B.P. Bishop Museum), pp. 15-31.
- 1980. "Little worlds of the Pacific: An essay on Pacific Basin biogeography," Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, University of Hawaii, Lecture No. 9, pp. 1-40.
- 1979. Hawaiian Marine Shells: Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii, Section 4: Mollusca (Honolulu: B.P. Bishop Museum Press).
- 1978. Molluscan distribution patterns at Canton Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 221:160-169.