View source for Bill Heal

{{Short description|British environmental scientist (1934–2021)}}
'''Oliver William Heal''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRSB}} (4 November 1934 ― 16 January 2021), known as '''Bill Heal''', was a British [[environmental science|environmental scientist]]. A specialist in [[soil science]], Heal was one of the originators of the [[University of the Arctic]].
==Biography==
Born in [[Gateshead]], Heal studied Natural Sciences at [[Durham University]] (BSc 1956, PhD 1959) and also studied under [[Muriel Robertson]] (the external examiner for his PhD) at the [[Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine]].<ref name="obit2">{{cite journal |last1=Burt |first1=Tim |last2=Thompson |first2=Des |last3=Marrs |first3=Rob |last4=Heal |first4=Stephen |title=HEAL, Professor Bill (Oliver William) |journal=Hatfield Record |date=2021 |pages=128–131 |url=https://issuu.com/hatfield-record/docs/hatfield_record_2021 |access-date=26 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="obit1">{{cite news |author1=Des Thompson |author2=Tim Burt |author2-link=Tim Burt |title=Bill Heal obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/14/bill-heal-obituary |access-date=26 May 2022 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=14 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> He researched soil microbes at [[Moor House-Upper Teesdale]], the same location as his doctoral field work, and compared the surrounding climate to that of [[Geography of Iceland#South|southern Iceland]].<ref name=obit1 />
In 1974 he was appointed head of soil science at the [[Institute of Terrestrial Ecology]] (ITE) in [[Cambridge]], where his research contributed to the [[International Biological Program]] (IBP). By 1982 Heal had become Director of ITE for the north of the UK.<ref name=obit1 />
A conversation with Lars-Erik Liljelund at a 1997 meeting of the [[Arctic Council]] led to the establishment of a new framework for arctic environmental research, the [[University of the Arctic]], which was founded the following year as something that could "combine the limited resources of the eight Arctic countries" but not be limited itself by national policies and attitudes.<ref name=obit1 />
==References==
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[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham]]
[[Category:British soil scientists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology]]
[[Category:People from Gateshead]]
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