Contributing Authors
Dr Ian Abbott
Dr Ian Abbott is a retired public service scientist. He has written the Appendix on Fauna for all volumes of Western Australian Exploration. An ecologist with wide field experience in western and eastern Australia and the Galápagos, he has degrees from the University of Sydney, Monash University, and the University of Western Australia. Dr Abbott has expertise in biogeography, island, forest and historical ecology, and ecological history, as well as expert knowledge of trees, invertebrates, birds and mammals. Since his first scientific paper in 1970, he has published over 240 papers.
Dr Patrick Armstrong
Dr Patrick Armstrong, Geographer, wrote The Introduction to Western Australian Exploration 1836-1845. He is a Research Fellow, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences at the University of Western Australia. He has publications on biogeography, ecology, environmental law and geographical and scientific thought. He is Australia’s leading authority on Charles Darwin.
Geoff Blackburn
Geoff Blackburn wrote the Appendix on Firearms for Western Australian Exploration 1826-1835. He is a writer, historian, and consulting geologist. He is the author of The Children’s Friend Society – Juvenile Immigration to Australia, South Africa and Canada 1833-1842; Conquest and Settlement: the 21st Regiment of Foot (Royal North British Fusiliers) in Western Australia 1833-40; and Calvert’s Golden West.
Dr Nan Broad
Dr Nan Broad wrote The Introduction to The Journal of the Brockman Droving Expedition of 1874-75. Nan spent her early years on pastoral stations in the Gascoyne region and her married life in the Lower Murchison and Northern Agricultural areas. Her developing interest in history led to research and subsequent publication of material on the Irwin Shire, the Broad family and numerous articles and contributions to historical books. Nan served on theCouncil of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society and was a founding member of the Western Australian Branch of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre. In later life she graduated from Curtin University and went on to complete a PhD from Notre Dame University with a theses on the stock routes in North West Australia.
Lesley Brooker
Lesley Brooker wrote The Introduction to the 1836 Wongan Hills Expedition in The Western Australian Explorations of John Septimus Roe. She has travelled extensively in the wheatbelt of Western Australia in a technical and research capacity for the CSIRO. She has authored and co-authored scientific papers on ornithology and habitat reconstruction. Lesley has a special interest in the geographical history of exploration in south-west Australia and has written four books on the subject.
Peter Bridge, OAM
Peter Bridge wrote The Introduction to Exploration Eastwards 1860 – 1869.
Dr Jim Cameron
Dr J.M.R. (Jim) Cameron wrote The Introduction for Evidences of an Inland Sea, The Finest Goldfields in the World and To The Golden Land. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia. He is an Adjunct Professor of History at Murdoch University. As the Foundation Dean of Education at Charles Darwin University he worked with a number of educational systems in Asia and the Pacific before returning to Western Australia. He combines an interest in teacher education and the historical geography of the European occupation of Australia, and has published widely in both fields. His books include Ambitions Fire: The Colonization of Pre-convict Western Australia; Letters from Port Essington; and The Millendon Memoirs.
Kim Epton
Kim Epton wrote the Biographical Notes for Volume 1, the Appendix on Nomenclature and the Appendix on Camels for the Carnegie Volume. He is a Series Editor of Western Australian Exploration, a founder and Chairman of the Project. He is the author of Get it Write; C.C. Hunt’s 1864 Koolyanobbing Expedition; and Rivers of the Kimberley. Since helping to establish the Project, his role is now the determination of prescriptive documents for proofreading and final editing of the diaries – currently thirteen Modules, intellectual property of the Project, that the Series Editors have determined will be made freely available to assist other groups initiating a Project similar to the Western Australian Explorers’ Diaries Project. Kim maintains the Project’s custom Dictionary.
Dr Vivian Forbes
Dr Vivian Forbes wrote the Appendix on Navigation and Hydrography in The Western Australian Explorations of John Septimus Roe. He is a professional, practising cartographer, marine political geographer and lecturer in spatial sciences and marine affairs. He was formerly a merchant naval officer, and has practical experience in terrestrial and hydrographic surveying. He is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Earth and Environment, University of Western Australia, where he had been the Map Curator. A former Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Spatial Sciences, Curtin University, Dr Forbes continues to supervise students at UWA and Curtin University. His research interests are in the disciplines of cartography, marine political geography and maritime studies. He lectures in these topics at home and abroad and has published widely on these themes. The main focus of his research is on maritime boundary delimitation and geopolitical issues.
Dr Alex George
Alex George, AM, is a retired consultant botanist, editor and indexer, and is the Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University. He worked at the WA Herbarium for 22 years and then spent 12 years in Canberra as the Executive Editor of the Flora of Australia project. He has also served twice at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England, as Australian Botanical Liaison Officer. His taxonomic research has focused on the families Proteaceae, Myrtaceae and Gyrostemonaceae, resulting in naming many new species and several new genera. His main research interests are now Australian botanical history and bibliography. Professor George prepared the Appendix on Flora for all Volumes.
Dr Neville Green
Dr Neville Green wrote the Appendix on Aboriginals for Western Australian Exploration 1836-1845. He is a missionary teacher turned historian who has more than 40 publications to his name, including The Forrest River Massacres and Commandant of Solitude (with John Mulvaney). His Appendix for the 1836-1845 Volume also relates to the 1826-1835 Volume.
Dr Marion Hercock
Marion Hercock has a PhD from the University of Western Australia. Her research publications include works on environmental management and history, resources, geographical thought and 19th century geographers as well as tourism and recreation. Together with her husband Joe Bryant, she ran a remote area tour company. She was the principal editor of Western Australian Exploration 1836-1845 and The Western Australian Explorations of John Septimus Roe 1829-1849. Her most recent work is A History of Dressage in Western Australia.
Ian Murray, OAM (dec.)
Ian Murray wrote the Appendix on Nomenclature for All I Want Is Fame. He is a researcher of history, specialising in Western Australian 1890s gold towns, prospectors and place names. He is a volunteer in the Private Archive Section of the Battye Library and a long time member of the Western Australian Explorers Diaries Project. His publications include Aboriginal Corporations, Communities and Outstations, Where on the Coast is that? (with Marion Hercock), Western Australian Goldfields Towns and Settlements,(with Phil Bianchi, Maria Bloomfield and Celene Bridge), John Dunn and the Wealth of Nations (with Peter Bridge and Maureen Cause), and The Overlanders (with Peter Bridge).
David Kaus
David Kaus wrote The Introduction for Narrative of an Expedition of Exploration in North Western Australia. He is the Senior Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program, National Museum of Australia. David holds an Honours degree in Archaeology from the Australian National University and a Masters degree in Cultural Heritage Management from the University of Canberra. He has had a long association with the National Museum’s indigenous collections. He has been researching Herbert Basedow for many years and was the Curator of an exhibition of more than 2000 of Basedow’s photographs. He is the author of Ernabella Batiks: In the Hilliard Collection of the National Museum of Australia, and A Different Time : The Expedition Photographs of Herbert Basedow 1903-1928.
David Wilcox, AM (dec.)
David Wilcox wrote the Appendix on Common Vegetation and Toxic Plants on the Canning Stock Route for Work Completed, Canning. He was a former Principal Rangeland Management Officer, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia.
Michael Lance
Michael Lance wrote The Introduction to the Great Southern Expedition in The Western Australian Explorations of John Septimus Roe. He farmed in the Great Southern before retiring to Bremer Bay. His interest in J.S. Roe’s explorations first brought him into contact with the Project.
Allan Zweck
Allan Zweck wrote The Introduction to the 1848-49 Russell Range Expedition in The Western Australian Explorations of John Septimus Roe. He is a native of Blyth, South Australia who moved to Lake Grace as a new-land farmer from 1965 until retirement, when he became an enthusiastic family history researcher. While researching William Rudall, to whom his wife was related, he developed a great interest in the WA Explorers’ Diaries Project. Enthusiasm for the Project has been maintained by involvement as a Proofreader, by having a recognition of its uniqueness, and acknowledgement of the importance to collate such valuable documents. Allan lived and worked on farming land that Roe crossed during his major expedition south-east to the Russell Range.