Biographical entry Ashton, David Hungerford (1927 - 2005)

Summary

David Ashton was one of Australia's most regarded botanist and a leading authority on the ecology of Australia's mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests. He was Associate Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne until his retirement in 1989, which ended a fifty year association with the Department. Throughout his career Ashton studied and documented how forests change over time and how they relied on and respond to bush fires. He also went on to study other plants and ecosystems including alpine regions of Australia and North America, Antarctic vegetation and beech forests in Chile. When not involved in research or lecturing, Ashton worked on many government advisory bodies including the Victorian National Parks Advisory Council and spent much time painting landscapes and writing poetry. He received many honours and awards including the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), the Ecological Society of Australia award and the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment established the David Ashton award for its staff in his honour.

Details

Events

1949 - c. 1951

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) completed at the University of Melbourne

1958

Career position - Nuffield Travelling Scholar and postdoctoral studies in the United Kingdom

1959

Career position - Postdoctoral studies in Germany, France, Canada and the United States of America (Rockefeller Foundation funding)

1960 - 1989

Career position - Lecturer then Senior Lecturer then Associate Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne

1990

Award - Ecological Society of Australia Medal received

1999

Award - David Ashton Biodiversity Award established in his honour by the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment

2001

Award - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) received

2002

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc) received from the University of Melbourne

Published resources

Journal Articles

• 'Vale David Ashton OAM', School of Botany Newsletter, December 2005, The University of Melbourne, 2005, p. 2. Details
• Ashton, D. H.; Ducker, S. C., 'John Stewart Turner 1908-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 3, 1993, pp. 278-290. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9930930278.htm. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Williams, Dick, 'Scientist saw forests for more than their trees', The Age (Melbourne), 26 December 2005, p. 19. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Ashton, D H', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-493678. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P003345. Details