Person
Fraser, Lilian Ross (c. 1908 - 1987)
- Born
- c. 1908
Kurrajong, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 5 October 1987
Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Botanist and Public servant
Summary
Lillian Ross Fraser was a botanist whose work identifying fungi and viruses was hugely beneficial to the New South Wales citrus industry.
She identified several highly destructive diseases including Phytophthora citrophthora fungus (root rot), seedling yellows, woody gall and Australian citrus dieback. She also did pioneering research on many other established diseases.
Details
In 1940 Lilian Ross Fraser was employed as assistant plant pathologist at the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, the first woman to be employed in that position.
In the early 1940s she identified the soil-inhabiting Phytophthora citrophthora root rot fungus, which had caused major damage to the New South Wales citrus industry. She was the first person to do so, and also established which citrus species were resistant to the fungus.
For this work she became the first woman accepted into the Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science.
In 1960 she was appointed Senior Biologist at the Department, before being promoted to Chief Biologist at their Biological and Chemical Research Institute in 1968. In 1973 she retired from the Institute.
Chronology
- 1930
- Education - Bachelor of Science in Botany (Hons.), University of Sydney
- 1931 - 1936
- Award - Linnean Macleay Fellowship (Botany), for study at the University of Sydney
- 1937
- Education - Doctorate of Science in Botany, University of Sydney
- c. 1938
- Education - Studied fungal taxonomy at the Imperial Mycological Institute, London
- c. 1938
- Education - Studied fungal taxonomy at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London
- 1939 - 1940
- Career position - Commonwealth Research Fellow studying fungal decay in apples, University of Sydney
- 1940 - 1960
- Career position - Assistant Plant Pathologist, New South Wales Department of Agriculture
- 1948 - 1949
- Career position - President. Linnean Society of New South Wales
- 1957 - 1958
- Career position - President. Linnean Society of New South Wales
- 1960 - 1968
- Career position - Senior Biologist, New South Wales Department of Agriculture
- 1968 - 1970
- Career position - Chief Biologist, New South Wales Division of Scientific Services
- 1970 - 1973
- Career position - Chief Biologist, Biological and Chemical Research Institute, New South Wales
- 1973
- Life event - Retired from the Biological and Chemical Research Institute.
Related entries
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details
Journal Articles
- Barkley, P., 'Lilian Ross Fraser 1909-1987', Australasian Plant Pathology, 16 (4) (1987), 96. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21338854. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/13637435. Details
- 'Fraser, Lilian Ross (1908-19871005)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1491926. Details
Rebecca Rigby
Created: 9 January 2012, Last modified: 7 July 2022