Andrew Whitham
In Memoriam
31st March 1960 – 31st January 2019
Andy joined CASP in 1990 following five years at the British Antarctic Survey. Over the next 28 years he conducted field seasons in East Greenland almost every year, establishing himself as an expert in the geology of the region and its application to the understanding of the Mid-Norwegian continental shelf. He also undertook fieldwork in southern Libya in 2007 looking at the Early Paleozoic succession there. Andy had a profound influence on the culture of the organisation, becoming Chief Geologist in 2003 and then Managing Director and Chief Geologist in 2014. He contributed to 50 academic papers.
In January 2020, Andy was posthumously awarded a second Polar Medal for outstanding achievement and service to the United Kingdom in the field of polar research. His first Polar Medal was awarded in 1995.
The Andrew Whitham CASP Fieldwork Awards were dedicated to his memory in 2019.
Publications
- Provenance response to rifting and separation at the Jan Mayen Microcontinent margin
- Establishing a provenance framework for sandstones in the Greenland–Norway Rift from the composition of moraine/outwash sediments
- Mineralogical and geochemical changes in subsurface shales straddling the Ordovician–Silurian boundary in the eastern Kufra Basin, Libya
- The nature and significance of the Faroe-Shetland Terrane: Linking Archaean basement blocks across the North Atlantic