pyproj: Kernel dies while converting geometry to EPSG3857, OS X 11.6

I am attempting to install the latest version of pyproj in order resolve the same issue as described in this closed issue 1113

Installation method/steps

• installed pyproj through conda in terminal, see below.

(base) Richard-Pelgrims-MacBook-Pro:site-packages data_science$ conda install pyproj
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: failed with initial frozen solve. Retrying with flexible solve.
Solving environment: failed with repodata from current_repodata.json, will retry with next repodata source.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done

## Package Plan ##

  environment location: /opt/anaconda3

  added / updated specs:
    - pyproj


The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:

  pyproj             pkgs/main/osx-64::pyproj-1.9.6-py37h9c430a6_0

Environment Information

• pyproj version you are attempting to install: 2.6 to resolve issues mentioned in this issue
• PROJ version : Rel. 5.2.0, September 15th, 2018
• Python version: 3.7.4
• Operation System Information: Darwin-15.6.0-x86_64-i386-64bit