chemistry

Kevin Tate

Kevin Tate is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kevin Tate rather than just read about it. In short: Kevin Russel Tate (8 April 1943 – 22 January 2018) was a New Zealand soil chemist, ecologist and climate scientist. Early life and family Born in Lower Hutt on 8 April 1943, Tate was the son of Dudley Tate and Hazel Winifred Tate (née Jackson-Hughes).

Key takeaways

Kevin Tate belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kevin Tate to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kevin Tate from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kevin Russel Tate (8 April 1943 – 22 January 2018) was a New Zealand soil chemist, ecologist and climate scientist.

Early life and family Born in Lower Hutt on 8 April 1943, Tate was the son of Dudley Tate and Hazel Winifred Tate (née Jackson-Hughes). He was educated at Hutt Valley High School from 1956.

Scientific career Tate studied chemistry at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating BSc in 1964, and MSc the following year. His master's thesis was titled A study of the dealdolisation of diacetone alcohol. Tate then completed a PhD on decarboxylation kinetics and mechanisms under Robert Walker Hay at Victoria, before moving to Soil Bureau, a branch of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in the Hutt Valley. In 1992, DSIR was dissolved and Soil Bureau became Landcare Research, a Crown Research Institute, and he moved with it to Palmerston North, on the campus of Massey University. Much of Tate's early research involved the storage and cycling of phosphorus and carbon in soils, particularly in economically important New Zealand grasslands and native forests. Later work focused on carbon cycling and sequestration, particularly as climate change became an issue and the question of how soils and soil biota could impact atmospheric carbon dioxide levels became relevant. Tate also contributed his soil chemistry knowledge to other research topics at Soil Bureau / Landcare, including sand dune rehabilitation, restoration of pasture after topsoil removal and understanding tussock grasslands. Many papers were coauthored with people including Des J. Ross, C.W. Feltham, Benny K.G. Theng, R.H. Newman, Neal A. Scott, Surinder Saggar, Paul C.D. Newton, Troy Baisden, Aroon Parshotam, David A. Wardle and Gregor W. Yeates. Retirement in 2005 did not stop Tate working on his science. One of his last works was editing Microbial Biomass, a 2017 volume on soil and ecosystem microbial processes. Tate died in Palmerston North on 22 January 2018.

Honours and awards In 1995, Tate was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the peak science organisation in New Zealand. He was also elected to fellowships of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry and the New Zealand Society of Soil Science. In 2005, Tate was awarded the Marsden Medal by the New Zealand Association of Scientists for "contribution to, and leadership of, research into ecosystem processes and climate change [spanning] four decades."

Selected works Tate, K.R.; Ross, D.J.; Feltham, C.W. (1988). "A direct extraction method to estimate soil microbial C: effects of experimental variables and some different calibration procedures". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 20 (3): 329–335. Bibcode:1988SBiBi..20..329T. doi:10.1016/0038-0717(88)90013-2. Newman, R.H.; Tate, K.R. (1980). "Soil phosphorus characterisation by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance". Communications in Soil Science & Plant Analysis. 11 (9): 835–842. Bibcode:1980CSSPA..11..835N. doi:10.1080/00103628009367083. Jensen, L.S.; Mueller, T.; Tate, K.R.; Ross, D.J.; Magid, J.; Nielsen, N.E. (1996). "Soil surface CO2 flux as an index of soil respiration in situ: a comparison of two chamber methods". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 28 (10): 1297–1306. doi:10.1016/s0038-0717(96)00136-8. Ross, D.J.; Tate, K.R.; Scott, N.A.; Feltham, C.W. (1999). "Land-use change: effects on soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus pools and fluxes in three adjacent ecosystems". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 31 (6): 803–813. Bibcode:1999SBiBi..31..803R. doi:10.1016/s0038-0717(98)00180-1.

References

External links Publications by Kevin Tate at ResearchGate

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kevin Tate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kevin Tate claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kevin Tate before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kevin Tate ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kevin Tate

In research: Kevin Tate appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kevin Tate in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kevin Tate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1943 births, 2018 deaths, Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kevin Tate outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Kevin Tate in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kevin Tate means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kevin Tate out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kevin Tate in simple terms?

Kevin Russel Tate (8 April 1943 – 22 January 2018) was a New Zealand soil chemist, ecologist and climate scientist. Early life and family Born in Lower Hutt on 8 April 1943, Tate was the son of Dudley Tate and Hazel Winifred Tate (née Jackson-Hughes).

Why does Kevin Tate matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kevin Tate?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kevin Tate.