14 Facts About Robin Cocks

Leonard Robert Morrison Cocks, OBE, TD, known as Robin Cocks, was a British geologist, formerly Keeper of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum.

Robin Cocks was best known for his work on brachiopods, and their use in reconstructing Earth history and past ecosystems.

Robin Cocks was educated at Felsted School and Hertford College, Oxford.

Robin Cocks subsequently became a research student at Oxford in 1962, funded by the DSIR, and completed his doctoral thesis on Silurian brachiopods from Shropshire in 1965.

Robin Cocks joined the staff of the Natural History Museum, London as Scientific Officer in the department of palaeontology in September 1965.

Robin Cocks was promoted to Senior Scientific Officer the next year, and to Principal Scientific Officer in June 1972.

Robin Cocks was appointed to Deputy Keeper in 1982, and was Keeper of Palaeontology from 1986 until retirement in June 1998.

Robin Cocks served as president of the Geological Society, Palaeontological Association, Palaeontographical Society and Geologists' Association.

Robin Cocks served on national and international scientific committees, including the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

Robin Cocks published many papers and books during his career, including The Evolving Earth, and Earth History and Palaoegeography, with Trond Torsvik in 2016.

In 2019, Robin Cocks published a monograph on Llandovery brachiopods, synthesising much of his taxonomic work of the previous six decades.

In 1963, Robin Cocks married Elaine Margaret Sturdy; they had three children, Mark, Zoe and Julia.

Robin Cocks was awarded the Coke Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1995; the Andre Dumont Medal of the Belgian Geological Society in 2003, and in 2010 he was awarded the Palaeontological Association's Lapworth Medal.

Robin Cocks was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1999 New Year Honours for services to palaeontology.