Claude Mills, Rural News Coordinator
Professor Edward Robinson, recipient of the Jamaica Gleaner Honour Award 2005 in the category of science and technology. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Today we continue to profile recipients of the prestigious Jamaica Gleaner Honour Award. Dr. Edward Robinson gets the award in the category of science and technology.
WHOEVER COMPARED the joys of geology to the dubious thrill of an evening watching cement harden, has obviously never met noted geologist Dr. Edward Robinson.
After almost 50 years in the field, his relationship with geology is still rock-solid.
"I love it ... the excitement of identifying rock formations and being able to relate these formations to discovering mineral or oil deposits, or to identifying catastrophic events that have occurred in past times, provides all the thrills and interest in the subject that one needs," he said.
He is currently doing research, and collating evidence of ancient tsunami events in Jamaica.
"There are boulders along the coast that have been thrown there by giant waves hitting the coastlines several years ago. We have found two boulders in Galina, St. Mary, and we have been able to radio carbon date it, and the large boulder, over 150 or so tonnes, could have been thrown there during the 1907 earthquake, which experienced a tsunami along the north east coast at that time," Dr. Robinson said.
He believes that the smaller boulder, which weighs about seven tonnes, may have been thrown on the coastline by a strong storm surge during Hurricane Allen in 1980.
AN EXPENSIVE UNDERTAKING
"It is an expensive undertaking to date the boulders because it costs US$600 per shot, but it is the only way to generate a database to establish trends, and know if this is going to happen every 1,000 years or so," he said.
Since 2000, he has been involved with marine geology and the study of coastal life, a joint project with the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, and funded through a two-year grant by USAID. The study has documented the impact of coastal erosion on small communities. One of the worst cases of coastal erosion, noted Dr. Robinson, has occurred at St. Margaret's Bay, near the Rio Grande river.
Though not a 'campaigner', Dr. Robinson has got a 'rock in his shoe' over the Palisadoes Strip, and has recently penned several letters to the newspaper criticising the National Works Agency for putting large boulders on the strip to protect it from a storm surge.
"The boulders are not large enough, and further, the rejuvenating process of the beach is being held back by the boulders," he said.
Dr. Robinson joined the Government's Geological Survey Department and worked as a field geologist for five years. When the new Geology Department started at the University College of the West Indies, he taught the first courses with Dr. Kevin Burke, who was recruited as the department head. He became head of the department in 1965 when Dr. Burke left, and remained in that position until 1980. Dr. Robinson assisted in the preparation of the geological background of Jamaica, again with Raymond Wright, as a prelude to the petroleum exploration programme undertaken in Jamaica in the early 1980s. Largely as a result of this work, he received the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in Science and Technology in 1978.
OIL INDUSTRY
He worked with the oil industry overseas in Caracas, Venezuela, for a year, and in Houston, Texas, for a decade. He still works with the U.S. Geological Survey in Miami. He works with the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Response Agency, doing monitoring work in Belize and Grenada. He is also currently a member of the National Council on Oceans and Coastal Zone Management which monitors and gives advice on Jamaica's ocean and coastal activities.
Can you believe that this gentleman retired in 2001? Admittedly, he is slowing down now. After all, he is 71.
Although he isn't Jamaican-born, he adores the island, and was granted citizenship in 1962. He grew up in India until he was nine, before going to Britain to complete his education. He came to Jamaica in 1956 after graduating from Birmingham University with a bachelors degree in Geology.
"My parents are British, and I had an interest in coming to Jamaica," he said.
That 'interest' turned out to be Jeanne Robinson, with whom he fell hopelessly and haplessly in love. They married in 1957, and he came to Jamaica to live with her. They had two daughters, Marion and Ruth, and three grandchildren, Ashley, Summer and Alexia.
"I am the only male in the family," he sighed. "I have a great life."
Questioned about his wife, he quipped: "My wife has an OD, she is much more clever than I."
He is a big fan of science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, but there is only one novel, 'Rendezvous with Rama' on his shelf.
"I've read all of his books, but I gave away a whole heap of them about five years ago," he said.
