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.

Details

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 Gold MEdal and the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment established the David Ashton award for its staff in his honour.

Chronology

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 - 1992

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

1990

Award - Ecological Society of Australia Gold Medal

1995 -

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of Victoria

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) for service to the science of plant ecology in the areas of forest regeneration, conservation and management

2002

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

Related entries

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Smith, Ailie; Moje, Christine; Rigby, Rebecca, The Study of Australian Eucalypts, eScholarship Research Centre, 2013, http://www.eoas.info/eucalypts/index.html. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Vale David Ashton OAM', School of Botany Newsletter (2005), 2. Details
• Ashton, D. H., 'Ecological studies on Pelican Island, Western Port, Victoria', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 111 (1999), 229-52. Details
• Ashton, D. H.; Ducker, S. C., 'John Stewart Turner 1908-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (3) (1993), 278-290. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9930930278. Details
• Ashton, David H., 'The history of the McCoy Society', The Victorian naturalist, 118 (2001), 321-7. Details
• Gillbank, Linden, 'Obituary - D.H. Ashton: David Hungerford Ashton, OAM, FFRSV, 6th July 1927 -22nd November 2005', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 118 (2006), 9-15. Details
• Gillbank, Linden, 'David Hungerford Ashton OAM', The Victorian naturalist, 123 (3) (2006), 174-176. Details
• Ladiges, P. Y.; and Ashton, D. H., 'A comparison of some populations of Eucalyptus viminalis Labill. growing on calcareous and acid soils in Victoria, Australia.', Australian Journal of Ecology, 2 (2) (1977), 161-178. Details
• Rowan, Kingsley, S.; and Ashton, David H., 'John Stewart Turner', Australian journal of botany, 47 (4) (1999), iii-iv. Details

Newspaper Articles

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

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5230887. Details
• 'Ashton, D H (19270706-20051122)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://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/index_a.html. Details