Bear, Isabel Joy (1927 - 2021)
- Born
- 4 January 1927
Camperdown, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 5 April 2021
Colac, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Mineral chemist
- Summary
Isabel Joy Bear AM completed two Associateship diploma courses at Melbourne Technical College, in applied science and applied chemistry (Ward, 2014). Her work in mineral chemistry contributed to the identification and description of 'petrichor', the distinctive scent of rain in the air. In recognition of her contribution to science, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1986, became the first woman to receive the Royal Australian Chemical Institute's Leighton Memorial Medal in 1988, and was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2005.
Archival Resources
ACMI
Published Resources
Articles
- Graduate News, Openline, vol. 2, June 1989, 4 pp. Details
- Poynton, Howard, The smell of rain: how CSIRO invented a new word, The Conversation, 31 March 2015. Also available at https://theconversation.com/the-smell-of-rain-how-csiro-invented-a-new-word-39231. Details
Webpages
- Smith, Ailie, Bear, Isabel Joy (1927 - ), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, Melbourne, Victoria, 19 November 2019. Also available at https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P004169b.htm. Details
- Ward, Colin, Isabel 'Joy' Bear, CSIROpedia, CSIRO, 11 April 2014. Also available at https://csiropedia.csiro.au/bear-isabel-joy/. Details
Images
Sources used to compile this entry: Graduate News, Openline, vol. 2, June 1989, 4 pp; Poynton, Howard, The smell of rain: how CSIRO invented a new word, The Conversation, 31 March 2015. Also available at https://theconversation.com/the-smell-of-rain-how-csiro-invented-a-new-word-39231; Ward, Colin, Isabel 'Joy' Bear, CSIROpedia, CSIRO, 11 April 2014. Also available at https://csiropedia.csiro.au/bear-isabel-joy/.
Created: 11 November 2021, Last modified: 31 August 2026