Gilbert, J. Maxwell

Summary

J. Maxwell Gilbert joined the Tasmanian Forestry Department in 1934 at the age of 21. In the late 1940s and 1950s he made significant contributions to improving the quality of Pinus radiata plantations in Tasmania through better nursery practices, selection of superior trees in plantations, establishment of progeny trials and the development of seed orchards. He headed the Silvicultural and Fire Protection Branch from the early 1950s. Maxwell Gilbert studied the regeneration of wet eucalypt forests in Australian Newsprint Mills' concession areas, particularly the Florentine, Styx and Tyenna Valleys. His resultant PhD was the first one on forest ecology to be awarded in Tasmania. He went on to establish that the burn and sow method was consistently successful in regenerating Eucalyptus regnans after clear-fell timber harvesting in Tasmania. He was in charge of the Tasmanian Forestry Commission's silvicultural research activities until his retirement in 1974.

Details

Chronology

1954

Award - First recipient of Australian Newsprint Mills Fellowship for silvicultural studies

1973

Award - NH Jolly Medal, Institute of Foresters of Australia

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

• Gilbert, J.M., 'Forest succession in the Florentine Valley, Tasmania.', Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 95 (1959), 129-151. Details
• Gilbert, J.M., 'Regeneration of Eucalyptus regnans in the Florentine Valley.', Appita, 13 (1960), 132-135. Details
• Gilbert, J.M.; and Cunningham, T.M., 'Regeneration of harvested forests.', Appita, 26 (1972), 43-45. Details

Resources

• 'Gilbert, J. Maxwell, by Peter Fagg', The Study of Australian Eucalypts: Forestry, with Fagg, P.C. et al., eScholarship Research Centre, 16 December 2013, http://www.eoas.info/eucalypts/forestry.html. Details
• 'Gilbert, J M', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-476697. Details

Theses

• Gilbert, J.M., 'Eucalypt-rainforest relationships and the regeneration of the eucalypts', PhD thesis, University of Tasmania, 1958, 123 pp. 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_g.html. Details