Contributing Authors – Western Australian Exploration Volume 1 1826 – 1835
The Introduction
Dr Marion Hercock, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, adjunct research fellow with the School of Earth and Geographical Sciences at the University of Western Australia where she has also lectured in geography. Publications include works on resource use and environmental management in Western Australia; and geographical and scientific thought. Director of Explorer Tours, an educational tour company which specialises in following original exploration routes.
Appendix on Fauna
Dr Ian Abbott, ecologist, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Science Division, Dept of Conservation and Land Management. Has wide field experience and expertise in biogeography and historical ecology, as well as trees, birds and invertebrates. Since his first publication in 1970 he has published 180 papers.
Appendix on Firearms
Mr Geoff Blackburn, writer, historian, consulting geologist. 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.
Appendix on Flora (after publication of the Volume)
The botanical expertise of Dr Alex George wasn’t available at the time this Volume was published. When he was asked to prepare the Appendix on Plants for Western Australian Exploration, 1836-1845 (Volume 2), he kindly offered to rectify the deficiency in this Volume. The two Appendixes on plants appear in Volume 2, starting at page 386. Dr George has contributed each of the Appendixes on Plants written for the Western Australian Exploration series. Using his vast experience he is able to deduce the scientific names of the various plants mentioned by the explorers from information such as locality, landform, associated vegetation and/or soil. While many can be named with confidence, for others there is insufficient information to be able to suggest a precise scientific name and these are listed as ‘probably’.
Dr 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.
Upgraded and Expanded Biographical Notes (after publication of the Volume)
The Biographical Notes were upgraded and expanded in their entirety by Series Editor, Kim Epton, after the publication of this Volume.