Ann Sabina

Sabinaite, a carbonate mineral named for Ann Sabina in 1980

Ann Phyllis Sabina Stenson (28 January 1930 – 29 September 2015)[1] was a Canadian mineralogist, gemmologist, public servant and popular science author.

Born in Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Sabina graduated the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology. In 1952, she was taken aboard the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in Ottawa,[1] hired as a specialist in X-ray diffraction analysis. During her more than 50-year career with the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) Sabina was instrumental in developing a catalog of diffraction spectra and representative specimens for many hundreds of minerals that would come to be used by researchers around the world.[2]

With geology budding into the limelight of the modern day masses, Sabina wrote guidebooks of Canada's major highways and what geological attributes to expect when driving on them.[3] In addition to her mineralogical work, Sabina was author of the popular "Rocks and Minerals for the Collector" and "Rock and Mineral Collecting in Canada" book series. These were intended as guides for the general public and were published by the GSC, in both English and French, as part of the organization's reports series. Ultimately, the two collections comprised 17 individual regional guides and have been credited with having "inspired many to go rock, mineral and fossil hunting."[1]

As part of her research, Sabina and a student assistant visited the Francon quarry in Montreal to contribute information and study to the Ontario to Lac St. Jean Quebec guidebook (GSC Paper 67-51). Women were exempt from using the quarry due to security reasons, so in response, Sabina asked a young man working in the quarry to bring her samples, paying him 5 dollars for his efforts. She noticed some small crystals in the samples retrieved, which in the context of her X-ray powder diffraction database, was an entirely new mineral.[1] She was the discoverer of the carbonate mineral weloganite[4] – that she named for the founder of the GSC, Sir William Logan – and was the first person to collect many more previously unknown minerals later described by other mineralogists, being recognized for collecting 9 of 10 new mineral specimens by 1990. Those being weloganite, dresserite, hydrodresserite, strontiodresserite, sabinaite, franconite, doyleite, hochelagaite, montroyalite and voggite.[1] One of these, sabinaite, was named in her honour in 1980.[5]

Sabina was the recipient of The International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) award in 2016, and was nominated for the same award in 2002.[6] In 1977, Sabina received the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal, recognizing her actions in the scientific community.[7] In 1994, she received the Leonard G. Berry Medal from the Mineralogical Association of Canada.[8] The Mineralogical Association of Canada also established the "Ann Sabina Award" in her honor.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Percival, Jeanne B.; Plant, A. George (2015). "Ann Phyllis Sabina Stenson (January 28, 1930 – September 29, 2015)". The Canadian Mineralogist. 53 (4): 777–781. doi:10.3749/canmin.OBIT000004.
  2. ↑ "ICDD Awards - McMurdie Award 2016". ICDD.com. International Centre for Diffraction Data. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  3. ↑ Branch, Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Office of the Deputy Minister, Communications and Marketing. "88. 'Rocks and Minerals for the Collector' Series (1963)". www.science.gc.ca. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  4. ↑ "Ann P. Sabina Stenson (1930 – 2015)". The Canadian Gemmological Association. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  5. ↑ Jambor, J.L.; Sturman, B.D.; Weatherley, G.C. (1980). "Sabinaite, a new anhydrous zirconium-bearing carbonate mineral from Montreal Island, Quebec". The Canadian Mineralogist. 18: 25–29.
  6. ↑ ICDD. "ICDD McMurdie Award 2016". www.icdd.com. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  7. ↑ "Untitled Document". www.mineralogicalassociation.ca. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  8. ↑ Caron, Johanne (2004-04-08). "Mineralogical Association of Canada". www.mineralogicalassociation.ca. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  9. ↑ "Ann Sabina Award". www.ccfms.ca. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.