Obituary: Alan Holden, chemist

Alan Holden, chemist.

Born: 12 July 1922, in Cambridge.

Died: 1 August, 2011, in Dundee, aged 89.

WITH Alan Holden's passing, science in Scotland has lost one of the pioneers of freshwater chemistry in Europe. But his legacy lives on through his many publications.

Alan's parents, Arthur and Ruby, encouraged their son in his education and were pleased when he opted to go to university. Unfortunately, Alan's father died at the young age of 41.

Alan attended Milton Road Elementary School and then Cambridge and County High School for Boys, where he won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. At university he studied chemistry, physics, mathematics and mineralogy. Because of the Second World War, the normal course was reduced from three to two years, and Alan soon graduated with an Honours BA in 1943.

From 1943 to 1945 he was employed by the Ministry of Supply. He then joined the staff of the Kodak Research laboratory, where he remained until 1950. A year or so earlier, the Brown Trout Research Laboratory (now the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory) had been established at Faskally, near Pitlochry, and in 1950 Alan was appointed as senior chemist there. He spent the rest of his working life at Fask-ally and, on the retirement in 1974 of Kenneth Pyefinch, FRSE, the laboratory's first officer-in-charge, Alan was appointed as his successor. He remained in charge there until his own retirement in 1982.

During three decades of research at Faskally, Alan initiated a number of major projects relating to the chemistry of rivers and lochs in Scotland and its relevance to fish ecology, especially concerning brown trout and Atlantic salmon. One of the earliest of these studies was the experimental chemical fertilisation of several freshwater lochs in Perthshire and Sutherland, aimed at improving their productivity and ultimately that of their native stocks of brown trout.

In the 1960s and 1970s, there was considerable concern among ecologists about the extensive use of pesticides such as DDT and dieldrin and their subsequent effects on wildlife and the environment in general, including human health. A programme to investigate this topic was initiated by Alan at Faskally which produced results so important that some industrial procedures were changed to stop further damage to the environment.

A good example of this was at Loch Leven, where the woollen mill at Kinross stopped the use of dieldrin as a moth- proofing agent directly as a result of the evidence of organochlorine residues in the tissues of fish in the loch. The programme on pesticides was subsequently expanded to include studies on mercury.

After the war, some poisons, such as cyanide (under the trade name of Cymag) became readily available. The salmon poaching fraternity in Scotland quickly recognised its potential, and fish kills from this source became fairly common on Scottish rivers. Alan's team were called on to develop suitable methods for the detection of cyanide in fish tissues and in many cases were subsequently able to provide the necessary scientific evidence to convict offenders.

In the 1970s, the importance of the chemical quality of rain became an important international issue and a programme of research on this topic was initiated by Alan and his colleagues. As well as showing that significant amounts of sea salts were being deposited in lochs and rivers during storms, the results provided a major contribution to our knowledge of the impact of acid rain on native fish stocks, a significant number of which had become extinct as a consequence of acidification.

Alan and his team published many important scientific papers over the years, and he became a major contributor to various committees, seminars and conferences, in the UK and internationally. He chaired several groups, including one within the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission, dealing with problems of water quality. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1973.

After his retirement, Alan devoted his activities to a number of important local organisations. He was a long-serving Rotarian and a member of the Pitlochry Probus Club. At various times he was chairman of the Pitlochry Community Council, a representative for Moulin on the local Neighbourhood Watch, a member of the local Crime Panel and, for 20 years, the hard-working secretary of the Pitlochry Abbeyfield Society.

In addition to these contributions to society, Alan continued his professional interest in fisheries as a member of the Institute of Fisheries Management, and he was appointed chairman of the Scottish branch in 1982. In recognition of his services to the institute, he was subsequently elected a Fellow and an honorary vice-president.

Alan had a long and happy family life in his home in the village of Moulin with his wife, Dolly, and their daughter, Fiona. Eventually Alan and Dolly became the proud grandparents of Lynsey and Michael, who became an increasingly important part of their lives. Sadly, Dolly died a few years before Alan.

A memorial service for Alan was held in Pitlochry on 10 August, and attended by his many friends and former colleagues. He was later laid to rest at Fonab Cemetery beside his beloved Dolly.