The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is mourning the passing of Dr. Paul Karrow. He was a founding member and the first Chair of the Department. Karrowpassed awayon February 5, 2023 at the age of93.
Karrow,asedimentary geologist, wasone of the “Grandfathers” of Quaternary Geology. He was widely known for his contribution to the field of geological sciences and was most recognized for mapping the great lakes area.
Born in St. Thomas, Ontario as the only child of an RCMP family, Karrowmoved frequently. He earned a BSc fromQueens University (1954) and a PhD in Geology from the University of Illinois (1957).
He workedfor the Ontario Department of Mines before joining theUniversity of ݮƵ in 1963.He was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering toteachgeology. Two years later, in 1965,the Department of Earth Sciences was founded and Karrow became the first Department Chair.
“PaulKarrow was there at the very beginning of our department in 1965, as its first chair," said MarioConiglio, Department Chair. "In the decades that followed, he continued to be an enormous influence on our department’s research and teaching directions. His fingerprints are all over our enduring success.”
Karrow's research focusedon the Earth's Quaternary history - the most recent 2.6 million years of Earth's geologic history.He was a prolific writer and published more than 200 articles. He is the leading authority on Quaternary stratigraphy and history - in the Great Lakes region, Toronto’s Interglacial and glacial deposits, and glacial Lake Algonquin, just to name a few.
He blazed a new trail for the “hard-rock-focused” Ontario Department of Mines to map the overburden (or sediment layers on top of southern Ontario’s bedrock), driving every road and stopping every kilometre or so to dig, examine and test the sediment - creating detailed surficial geology maps.
Throughout his work, Karrow blended and connected academia and industry. He createdthe Pleistocene Discussion Group and mappednumerous areas in southern Ontario that still provides the foundational knowledge needed to understand groundwater, resources like aggregate, and for building and planning.
He left the Ontario Department of Mines and joined the University of ݮƵ because he wanted to teach. Hetaught Earth 440 – Quaternary Geology for decades, training countless students. Dr. Martin Ross took over teaching the course and reflects on the impact Karrow had.
"He was so kind to invite me along to take part on these field trips as I would be starting to teach that course the following year. It was a great opportunity for me to learn from the ‘Master”," said Ross. "While thefield trips and scientific knowledge have evolved over the last 15 years, I still integrate several things I learned from him and pass that knowledge onto the new generation of Earth Sciences students. I am so glad we were able to overlap and interact a little bit."
Karrow also co-authored the textbook "Handbook of Geology in Civil Engineering" with Robert F. Leggett in 1983. The collection of images, documents and papers was kept and donatedbyKarrow to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Library Archives in 2010.The collection can be viewed at the UOIT Library Archives, by appointment.
He received many recognitions and distinctions throughout his career. In 1995, he received theW. A. Johnston Award, the highest honour fromThe Canadian Quaternary Association for his outstanding achievements. In 1999, Karrow and Owen White received the E.B. Burwell, Jr., Award of the Geological Society of America for their paper on Urban Geology of Canadian Cities. Karrowwasawarded a 2016Grand River Conservation Authority Watershed Awardby theGrand River Conservation Authority.Karrow was honoured for mapping the surface geology of much of Grand River Watershed. He also helped create a 3D geology map of the ݮƵ moraine. These maps have been critical for our understanding and quantitativemodeling of water flow and infiltration through the Grand River watershed.
He worked at the University of ݮƵ for more than 30 years and retired in 1999. Karrow was awarded a Distinguished Professor Emeritus shortly after for hisdistinguished record of service in teaching and research.He continued to come to campus and publish many papers for years afterwards.
He was passionate about earth sciences and wanted to share itwith the community.Karrow had started an endowment fund through the Earth Sciences Museum to encourage speakers to come from around the globe and share knowledge through a lecture series about Quaternary geology. The Paul Karrow Lecture Series focused on topics related to soft rock geology. Speakers gave one lecture to an academic audience and another in the form of a public lecture.
The Earth Sciences Museum curator, Corina McDonald, collaborated with Karrow and Dr. Barry Warner on what the environment should look like for themastodon muralthat hangs in the Centre for Environmental & Information Technology.
"Dr.PaulKarrow was passionateabout Quaternary geology, and very detail oriented with respect to communicating the field of study with others," said McDonald. "Mammoths, Mastodons and the environments they lived in were of particular interest to Paul. While creating theMastodon exhibit, which now exists in theEarth Sciences Museum, Paul was happy to provide consultation on the landscape that would have been Southern Ontario just after the last ice-age about 10,000 years ago."
He participated invarious outreach initiativesincluding being an activecontributor to the Department'sWat on Earth newsletterand co-authoreda few books. He helped write the book,A Mastodon in a Biscuit Box, which explores the story of the famous travelling Highgate Mastodon which lived 13,000 years ago and wasdiscovered in Southern Ontario in the 1800's.He also contributed to the bookManitoulin Rocks – Rocks, Fossils and Landscape of Manitoulin Island,along with Dr. Mario Coniglio and Earth Sciences MuseumCurator EmeritusPeter Russell. The book was a step-by-step resource to explore and understand notable landforms and fossilson Manitoulin Island.
He volunteered his time and expertise with the K-W Historical Society and serveda term as their president. Karrowwas also an active member of the K-W Field Naturalists for many years. In his spare time, he was an avid model railroad hobbyist and could be found writing notes and photographing the designs of train cars along the Ontario train tracks. He was a gentle and quiet person who valued cycling and walking. He faithfully walked or cycled to and from work every day, regardless of the weather well into his late eighties.
He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren. A tree will be planted in memory of Dr. Karrow onthe University of ݮƵ campus. Please post a message or share a memory on the.
Below is a video by the Grand River Conservation Authoritycelebrating Karrow's 2016 Watershed Award.