Mary Rabbitt

Mary Rabbit, a noted geophysicist and historian with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Va., has died. She was 87.

Mrs. Rabbit (ne Collins) was born in 1915 in Boston, Mass., and grew up in nearby Canton. After earning a bachelor of arts degree in geological sciences from Radcliffe College in 1937, she worked as a research assistant to geophysicist Perry Byerly at the University of California.

In 1939, Rabbit returned to Radcliffe to assist geologist Dr. Kirtley Mather. During the Second World War, she served at the Oak Ridge Observatory in Tennessee and with the Office of Scientific Research and Development, working on explosion seismology.

In 1947, she married John Rabbitt, a geologist with the USGS in Washington, D.C., and joined the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey’s seismology branch.

In 1949, Rabbitt transferred to the USGS and assumed control of the Geophysical Abstracts Unit, which published the quarterly journal Geophysical Abstracts. During the 1950s, she aided branch chief James Balsley, Jr., in projects that led to a greater understanding of magnetic-ore deposits, the geologic time scale, global tectonics, and the behaviour of rocks and soils under varying temperatures and pressures.

In 1966, Rabbitt began assisting USGS director William Pecora, and later his successor, Vincent McKelvey.

After retiring in 1978, she completed a 3-volume history and assessment of federal earth-science and mapping policies. Her contributions earned her the Geological Society of America’s History of Geology Award in 1984 and the Department of the Interior’s Distinguished Service Award in 1988.

Rabbitt was a member the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the Seismological Society, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

She is survived by a niece and two nephews.