Irene Crespin

Who was Irene Crespin?

Irene Crespin was an Australian geologist and palaeontologist.

Crespin was born in Kew, Victoria and was educated at Mansfield Agricultural High School and the University of Melbourne where she was under the influence of Frederick Chapman who she became assistant to in 1927.

On 1 January 1936 she succeeded Chapman as palaeontologist in the Department of the Interior; she transferred to Canberra to be in contact with the Commonwealth's geological adviser Walter George Woolnough.

A street in the Canberra suburb of Banks is named Crespin Place in her honour. The Irene Crespin Prize for Palaeontology is awarded by The faculty of Science at the Australian National University for excellence in undergraduate palaeontology.

Crespin was awarded the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1957.