Judith Gay West AO (born 1949) is an Australian scientist currently working as an executive director of the Australian National Botanic Gardens. West holds a doctor of philosophy (PhD) by thesis on "A taxonomic revision of Dodonaea ( Sapindaceae ) in Australia". She completed her PhD in 1981 from the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
West completed her Bachelor of Science in 1970 with majors in Botany and Zoology from the University of Sydney, New South Wales. She completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) with first class honours in Botany in 1972, also from the University of Sydney. [1]
West has been pivotal in raising the profile of Australian plant systematics through her ongoing participation on multiple national and international associations and committees.
West's research centres on plant systematics of Australian plants, in particular morphological and breeding system evidence in combination with molecular data. West is proactive in sharing her research so as to incorporate the knowledge into interactive identification packages of nationally significant groups, including eucalypts, legumes, grevilleas, orchids and tropical rainforest plants. [2]
She has represented Australian herbaria as the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer in 1988 with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom.
In 2001, West was awarded the Nancy T Burbidge Medal by the Australian Systematic Botany Society for longstanding and significant contribution to Australian systematic botany. [1]
In 2003, West was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the advancement of botanical science and research, particularly in the field of plant systematics, to science administration and policy development, and to the establishment of Australia's Virtual Herbarium. [3]
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria (Australia) by Governor Charles La Trobe in 1853, and later director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. He also founded the National Herbarium of Victoria. He named many Australian plants.
The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) is a heritage-listed botanical garden located in Acton, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Established in 1949, the Gardens is administered by the Australian Government's Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. The botanic gardens was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.
Murray Ian Hill Brooker AM, better known as Ian Brooker, was an Australian botanist. He was widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus Eucalyptus.
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra. The "bizarre" Restionaceae genus Alexgeorgea was named in his honour in 1976.
Otto Wilhelm Sonder was a German botanist and pharmacist.
Nancy Tyson Burbidge was an Australian systemic botanist, conservationist and herbarium curator.
Randall James Bayer is an American systematic botanist born in Buffalo, New York, who spent his childhood in East Aurora. He earned a B.Sc. with major in plant breeding and minor in horticulture in 1978 from Cornell University; an M.Sc. in systematic botany in 1980 from the Ohio State University; and a Ph.D. in 1984 from the Ohio State University with the dissertation Evolutionary Investigations in Antennaria. His interest in the genus Antennaria was inspired by noted evolutionary botanist George Ledyard Stebbins (1906–2000) who was a visiting professor at the Ohio State University in 1978–1979.
Juliet Ann Wege is an Australian botanist. She graduated in 1992 and gained a PhD at The University of Western Australia in 1999 with a thesis titled "Morphological and anatomical variation within Stylidium (Stylidiaceae): a systematic perspective". As of 2021 she works as a researcher at the Western Australian Herbarium run by Western Australia's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and is managing editor of Nuytsia. Her main area of expertise is in taxonomy and study of the Stylidiaceae family of triggerplants.
Lindsay Dixon Pryor AO was an Australian botanist noted for his work on Eucalyptus taxonomy and his role in the landscape design of Canberra, including the foundation of the Australian National Botanic Gardens.
Thomas Gordon Hartley was an American botanist.
Neville Graeme Marchant is a retired Western Australian botanist. He was formerly the Director of the Western Australian Herbarium.
Lyndley Alan Craven was a botanist who became the Principal Research Scientist of the Australian National Herbarium.
George Chippendale was an Australian botanist and a strong proponent of growing Australian Native plants. As well as a career in botany, he also taught his love of botany to all who would listen through talks to children, special interest groups, walks on Canberra'a Black Mountain and more recently through the U3A, both in class and online. He knew the value of planting local native plants in gardens as they would survive local conditions and save water.
Alexander Clifford "Cliff" Beauglehole was an Australian farmer, botanist, plant collector and naturalist.
Hansjörg Eichler was a German-born botanist, educated in Europe, who worked in Europe and Australia, and whose greatest contribution was to Australian botany.
Alma Theodora Lee was an Australian botanist and plant taxonomist who worked at the National Herbarium of New South Wales, University of Sydney, and CSIRO. She is notable for raising the standard of systematic botany in Australia, and for her revisions of Swainsona and Typha. She also studied the Fabaceae with colleagues. The standard author abbreviation A.T.Lee is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. She described over 40 species. The March 1991 issue of the journal Telopea was dedicated to her memory.
Barry John Conn, is an Australian botanist. He was awarded a Ph.D. from Adelaide University in 1982 for work on Prostanthera.
Poa drummondiana is a perennial herb in the Poaceae family.
Christopher Francis Puttock, often cited as C.F.Puttock, is an Australian botanist and taxonomist who has interests in the Rubiaceae and Asteraceae flowering plant families as well as Pteridophyta (ferns) and Rhodophyta.
Josephine (Pina) Milne is an Australian bryologist, and former Manager Collections at the National Herbarium of Victoria at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.