Walter Clive Clark

Walter Clive Clark (22 October 1927 – 21 November 2019) was a New Zealand zoologist who specialised in the study of nematodes and pycnogonids. He was a professor at Massey University and later the University of Canterbury.

Early life, family, and education Born in Christchurch on 22 October 1927, Clark was the son of Clive Harold Clark and Ellen Martha Clark (née Baldwin). He had his early education at Bruce Bay, where his academic potential was first recognised, before moving back to Christchurch about the end of 1942. Clark later studied at Canterbury University College, graduating MSc with first-class honours in 1957. He was an assistant lecturer in biology at Christchurch Teachers' College from 1954 to 1955 and an assistant lecturer in zoology at Canterbury from 1956 to 1957. The title of his doctoral thesis was Systematic and morphological studies on some Enoplida Nematoda, with special reference to the soil fauna of New Zealand. His main research interests were nematodes and pycnogonids.

Among the research students supervised by Clark was Gregor Yeates, who completed his PhD on the ecology of nematodes in sand dunes in 1968.

Later life and death In retirement, Clark lived in the small town of Woodend. His first wife died in 1999, and he later remarried, to Clover.