Wally Clark (zoologist)

Born in Christchurch on 22 October 1927, Clark was the son of Clive Harold Clark and Ellen Martha Clark (née Baldwin).[1] He had his early education at Bruce Bay, where his academic potential was first recognised, before moving back to Christchurch about the end of 1942.[2] Clark later studied at Canterbury University College, graduating MSc with first-class honours in 1957.[1][3] He was an assistant lecturer in biology at Christchurch Teachers' College from 1954 to 1955 and an assistant lecturer in zoology at Canterbury from 1956 to 1957.[1] He was then a principal scientific officer in nematology in the entomology division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in Nelson from 1957 to 1964.[1] The DSIR supported Clark to undertook doctoral studies, and he completed a PhD at Imperial College London, supervised by Bernard Peters and Charles Potter, in 1961.[4] The title of his doctoral thesis was Systematic and morphological studies on some Enoplida Nematoda, with special reference to the soil fauna of New Zealand.[4]

In 1958, Clark married Gwenda Bellamy Goodman.[1][5]

Clark was appointed professor of zoology at Massey University in 1964, but in 1967 he returned to Department of Zoology at the University of Canterbury as a reader (equivalent to associate professor).[1] He rose to the rank of professor and also served as head of department.[6] His main research interests were nematodes and pycnogonids.[1] On his retirement from Canterbury in 1988, Clark was conferred the title of professor emeritus.[7]

Among the research students supervised by Clark was Gregor Yeates, who completed his PhD on the ecology of nematodes in sand dunes in 1968.[8]

In retirement, Clark lived in the small town of Woodend. His first wife died in 1999,[9] and he later remarried, to Clover.[5] He died on 21 November 2019.[5]