Biographical entry Weste, Gretna Margaret (1917 - 2006)

Summary

Gretna Weste worked in the School of Botany at the University of Melbourne 1961-1982, retiring as Reader. She was the foremost authority in Australia on the biological behaviour of the cinnamon fungus, Phytophthora cinnamoni, which travels in disturbed soil and was responsible for the 'dieback' disease in forests of Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.

Details

Events

1938

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc) completed at the University of Melbourne

1939

Education - Master of Science (MSc) completed at the University of Melbourne

1939 - 1941

Career position - Plant Pathologist at the Forests Commission of Victoria

1955 - 1960

Career position - Biology Teacher at Firbank Church of England Girls' Grammar School

1961 - 1982

Career position - Co-ordinator and Reader in Botany at the University of Melbourne (Assistant Lecturer 1965-74, Senior Lecturer 1974-80, Reader 1980-82)

1968

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

1982 -

Career position - Senior Associate in the School of Botany at the University of Melbourne

1983

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

1989

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM)

1995

Award - Australasian Plant Pathology Society Medal received

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Edited Books

• Clifford, Harold T. (ed.), Cambridge - Castlemaine: a Tribute to John Stewart Turner on the Occasion of his 80^th Birthday, Botany Department, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 1988, 71 pp. Details

Theses

• Carey, Jane, 'Departing from their sphere: Australian women and science, 1880-1960', PhD thesis, The University of Melbourne, 2003, 356 pp. Details
• Carey, Jane, 'Departing from their sphere: Australian women and science, 1880-1960', PhD thesis, The University of Melbourne, 2003, 356 pp. Details

Online Resources

• Millis, Nancy, Interview with Dr Gretna Weste, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 8 June 2000, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/w/gw.html. Details
• 'Weste, Gretna M', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1029838. Details