Alexander William Robert Bevan, July 25, 1951–February 11, 2021

Abstract

The recognition that meteorites accumulate in desert regions, and that co-ordinated searches could significantly increase the number of samples available to researchers, has revolutionized the field of meteoritics. The availability of tens of thousands of desert meteorites is now taken for granted. This year saw the loss of one of the figures that saw that potential, and with multiple expeditions in the Nullarbor Plain of Australia, broke the ground that made it a reality. Alex Bevan died at the age of 69, on February 11, 2021. Alexander William Robert Bevan was born on July 25, 1951, in Bridgend, Glamorgan, in Wales to parents Ceinwen and Colin Bevan. They lived in St Brides Major, a small village close to the central south coast of Wales. He was an only child. Growing up he roamed the Welsh countryside, including the fossil-studded limestone cliffs and quarries, which triggered his interest in geology. In 1969, he went to University College London to read Geology, obtaining his Honours degree in 1972. He first worked in the library of the Geological Society of London in Burlington House on the Strand, then took up a position in 1973 as Assistant Scientific Officer in the Meteorite Section␣of what is now the Natural History Museum, in South Kensington. After some years there, and promotion, he began a part-time PhD on the Metallurgy of Meteorites as part of a joint University of London/Government Laboratories scheme. The work involved periods of research at Manchester University under Howard Axon at the Institute of Science and Technology, and at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in the United States. He obtained his PhD in 1985. It was at the Natural History Museum that he met Jenny Leverton, a close colleague in the Department of Mineralogy. They married in 1974 and continued to work together, publishing several joint papers. In 1984, Alex came to Perth to appraise and assist with the meteorite collection at the Western Australian Museum. He was in Perth when a meteorite fell within sight and sound of the city: Alex actually heard the sonic boom. The meteorite was seen to fragment, with one piece recovered from the beach at Binningup where it had landed close to two women sunbathing. Alex helped co-ordinate the search for other fragments, and subsequent publicity, being interviewed for television, radio, and the press. Fortuitously, after many years of effort, the museum was in the throes of trying to appoint a Curator of Minerals and Meteorites. All that was needed was for final approval for the position to be given by higher echelons of government. Following the Binningup meteorite's spectacular entry into the state, this was duly given, the week after its arrival. Truly “manna from Heaven.” Head of Department, Ken McNamara, strongly advised Alex to apply for the position and the rest, as they say, is history. Alex, Jenny, and their young children Sarah and Tom arrived in Perth in September 1985. Alex quickly realized that the Nullarbor Plain in Western Australia might be a productive source of meteorites. A local bushman, John Carlisle, had found a number of meteorites there while out rabbiting, including the 11 tonne Mundrabilla iron. Soon after arriving in Perth, Alex started a program of regular expeditions to the Nullarbor (Fig.␣1), which from the beginning had an international component. Taking ANSMET as his model, colleagues came together from all over the world to participate, camping and searching in the Nullarbor Plain for 2–3 weeks (Fig.␣2). The results were spectacular. By 1991, Alex’s WAMET program had resulted in the recovery of around 500 meteorite samples. It would continue for over a decade, including supporting the Euromet. With the eye of a metallurgist, Alex would make fundamental contributions to our understanding of iron meteorites over the course of his career as well as continuing his research on meteorites in general. In addition, his success in recovering desert meteorites led to an interest in how they are affected by the terrestrial environment and what this can tell us about their age and history. With Bland, that interest developed into a collaboration that would last decades: from meteorite weathering, to constraining impact rate using desert populations, and in the end to the concept of a Desert Fireball Network, built to track meteorites as they come through the atmosphere, and pinpoint fall sites in an area that is well suited for their recovery. The Desert Fireball Network project became the seed for a growing planetary science group at Curtin University in Perth, which now has 50 staff and student scientists—the largest group of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a key part of Alex’s legacy. His other work in the Western Australian Museum made a significant contribution to science and the community. Although meteorites were important to him, he also actively worked on and administered the Museum’s much larger collections of minerals and rocks, and for many years was the Head of Earth and Planetary Sciences. He was involved in the organization of a number of scientific conferences (including the first Meteoritical Society Conference to be held outside the USA or Europe, in 1990) and was an active contributor to several other societies and groups, particularly the Royal Society of Western Australia of which he was president from 2004 to 2006. Alex led many field trips, including a memorable after-conference trip to several Western Australian impact sites following the 2012 Meteoritical Society Meeting in Cairns (Fig.␣3). He was an excellent field guide with enormous knowledge and patience (except for certain drivers—one of his quips was “I used to be indecisive, but now I am not so sure”). A significant aspect of his work was in public education. In addition to his scientific contributions, Alex made regular appearances on TV and radio and wrote a number of books popularizing the field. An important early accomplishment of his was the fourth edition of the famous “Catalogue of Meteorites,” edited by Andrew Graham, Alex Bevan, and Robert Hutchison, which was published in 1985. He carried out lecture programs in Perth, regionally and overseas, and was a main instigator of the “Diamonds to Dinosaurs” gallery at the Museum, which took visitors on a journey from the formation of the solar system to the footprints of the first hominins. More recently, his contribution to displays in the new Museum in Perth, in the words of the director, “stands as a tribute to his work and his commitment to engaging the wider public.” In January 2018, after 32 years and 5 months, Alex retired from the Museum, but he continued to pursue his scientific research, and to teach and mentor undergraduate and PhD students, and post-doctoral researchers, sharing his enthusiasm and his knowledge, even while undergoing palliative chemotherapy. After retiring he rediscovered a talent as an artist, his favored media being watercolors and oil pastels, and many friends and family now treasure the paintings he gave them. Alex is survived by his three children—Sarah, Tom, and Matthew—his wife Jenny, and grandchildren Lincoln and Harlie.