Patricia Woolley

Patricia Woolley was born in 1932 in Denmark, Western Australia. Her mother was a nurse and her father a medical practitioner. She completed her Junior Certificate at Albany High School. After moving to Perth, Woolley sought to study science at Perth Modern School however at that time women were not allowed to study chemistry at the school, so she attended Perth Technical College and later Leederville Technical College instead. There she focused on mathematics and through the encouragement of a teacher went on to study mathematics at the University of Western Australia. After losing interest in mathematics, Woolley switched to zoology and graduated with a BSc in 1955. After graduation Woolley worked as a research assistant under Professor Harry Waring, researching marsupials. She did experimental work with Waring until moving with her husband to Canberra in 1960. She lectured in zoology at the Australian National University before deciding to work towards a Ph.D. After completing her Ph.D. in 1966, she worked as a lecturer and associate professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, retiring in 2000.{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/dr-patricia-woolley-zoologist|title=Dr Patricia Woolley, zoologist|website=Australian Academy of Science|access-date=2017-10-10}}

The majority of Woolley’s work focused on marsupial biology, dealing with species in both Australia and Papua New Guinea. For her Ph.D. she researched the sex differentiation in dasyurids, specifically in the Antechinus genus. One of the findings of her Ph.D. research was that certain dasyurid species are semelparous, meaning they live long enough to reproduce, and then die, which is unusual among mammals.{{cite web|last1=Braithwaite|first1=Richard W.|last2=Lee|first2=Anthony K.|title=A Mammalian Example of Semelparity|url=http://frogwatch.museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/A%20NEW%20SPECIES%20OF%20FALSE%20ANTECHINUS%20(MARSUPIALIA%20DASYURIDAE)%20FROM%20WESTERN%20AUSTRALIA,%20WITH%20REMARKS%20ON%20THE%20GENERIC%20CLASSIFICATI.pdf|website=University of Chicago Press Journals|publisher=The American Society of Naturalists|accessdate=10 October 2017}}

After receiving her Ph.D., Woolley began her career as an associate professor at La Trobe University, where she was the first zoologist on the faculty. While teaching at La Trobe, she continued her research on dasyurids. In this research, she looked at penis morphology in many species of the Antechinus genus, and was able to reclassify several species that were incorrectly put in the Antechinus genus, based on a certain structure on the penis of the animal.{{cite journal|last1=Woolley|first1=P. A.|title=Phallic morphology of the Australian species of Antechinus (Dasyuridae, Marsupialia): a new taxonomic tool?|journal=Carnivorous Marsupials|date=1982|volume=2|pages=767–781}} From 1980 to 1990 Woolley travelled in Papua New Guinea to trap dasyurids, and observe them in the wild.

Prior to Woolley’s research little was known of dasyurids. Her findings and her studies prompted significant interest from the zoology community, and in 1988, a new species of Pseudantechinus (Woolley's false antechinus or Pseudantechinus woolleyae) was named after her recognition of her contributions to dasyurid studies.{{cite journal|last1=Kitchener|first1=D. J.|last2=Caputi|first2=N.|title=A new species of false antechinus (Marsupialia~ Dasyuridae) from Western Australia, with remarks on the generic classification within the Parantechini|journal=Records of the Western Australian Museum|date=1988|volume=14|issue=1|page=46|url=http://frogwatch.museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/A%20NEW%20SPECIES%20OF%20FALSE%20ANTECHINUS%20(MARSUPIALIA%20DASYURIDAE)%20FROM%20WESTERN%20AUSTRALIA,%20WITH%20REMARKS%20ON%20THE%20GENERIC%20CLASSIFICATI.pdf|accessdate=10 October 2017}}

In 2023 a new species of mulgara (the northern mulgara or Dasycercus woolleyae) was named in recognition of her extensive work on the genus.{{Cite journal |last=Newman-Martin |first=Jake |last2=Travouillon |first2=Kenny J. |last3=Warburton |first3=Natalie |last4=Barham |first4=Milo |last5=Blyth |first5=Alison J. |date=2023-10-02 |title=Taxonomic review of the genus Dasycercus (Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae) using modern and subfossil material; and the description of three new species |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2023.2262083 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=624–661 |doi=10.1080/03115518.2023.2262083 |issn=0311-5518|doi-access=free }}

Other awards:

• Outstanding Achievement Award from the Society of Woman Geographers (1999){{cite web|title=SWG: Past Outstanding Achievement Award Recipients|url=http://www.iswg.org/about/past-outstanding-achievement-award-recipients|website=www.iswg.org|language=en}}
• Honorary Life Member of the Australian Mammal Society (2000){{cite web|title=Elected Honorary Members {{!}} American Society of Mammalogists|url=https://www.mammalsociety.org/committees/honorary-membership/honorary-membership-award-winners|website=www.mammalsociety.org|language=en}}
• Honorary Life Member of the American Society of Mammalogists (2001){{cite web|title=Honorary Life Membership {{!}} The Australian Mammal Society|url=https://australianmammals.org.au/awards/honorary_life_membership|website=australianmammals.org.au}}

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Category:Australian zoologists

Category:Living people

Category:1932 births

Category:Australian National University alumni

Category:University of Western Australia alumni

Category:Academic staff of La Trobe University

Category:Australian women scientists

Category:Members of the Society of Woman Geographers