Covacevich, Jeanette Adelaide (1945 - 2015)

Summary

Jeanette Covacevich was a herpetologist whose research interests were mainly in the taxonomy, zoogeography and conservation of Australo-Papuan reptiles, especially those from rainforests, deserts and heaths. Her research also included Aboriginal history, envenomation, and documenting the range and status of the Queensland fauna, particularly endangered vertebrates. She described 30 new species of snakes. Covacevich was instrumental in the conservation of bioregions such as the Brigalow Belt, North Stradbroke Island and the Wet Tropics. As Curator at the Queensland Museum she expanded the collections of reptiles and frogs from 7,000 to approximately 60,000 specimens. Covacevich had a long association with the medical profession as an expert consultant on snake envenomation and identification. She was active in many scientific and conservation societies including the Royal Society of Queensland, the Queensland Naturalist's Club, the Australian Society of Herpetologists and the Rainforest Conservation Society of Queensland

Details

Chronology

1977

Education - MSc, Griffith University

1978 - 1984

Career position - Secretary, Stradbroke Island Management Organisation

1978 - 1992

Career position - Senior Curator (Reptiles), Queensland Museum

1988 - 1990

President, Australian Society of Herpetologists

1992 - 2002

Career position - Senior Curator (Vertebrates), Queensland Museum

1995

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to science, particularly in the fields of herpetology and conservation

1995

Career position - President, Royal Society of Queensland

1996 - 2002

Career position - Member, Scientific and Clinical Emergencies Subcommittee of the Graduate Medical Course, University of Queensland

1997 - 1999

Career position - Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Queensland Nature Conservation Act

2002

Life event - Retired

2002 - 2015

Career position - Honorary Research Associate, Queensland Museum

2003

Award - Queensland Museum Medal

2003

Award - Queensland Natural History Award, Queensland Naturalists' Club

2003

Award - Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to the Queensland Museum, to the wider scientific community, and to the people of Queensland

2007

Award - Australian Natural History Medallion, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Covacevich, Jeanette, 'Epicentre or Outback' in Health, History and Horizons, John Pearn, ed. (Brisbane: Amphion Press, 1992), pp. 3-15. Details
• Covacevich, Jeanette; Irvine, Tony; Davis, George, 'A Rainforest Pharmacopoeia: Five Thousand Years of Effective Medicine' in Pioneer Medicine in Australia, John Pearn, ed. (Brisbane: Amphion Press, 1988), pp. 159-174, 299-301. Details

Conference Papers

• Covacevich, J.A.; Ogilvie, A.; Walker, F., '"Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make...": Profiles of Prisoners on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia', in History, Heritage and Health: Proceedings of the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of the History of Medicine, Norfolk Island, 2-9 July, 1995 edited by Covacevich, Jeanette, Pearn, John, Case, Donna, Chapple, Ian and Phillips, Gael (Brisbane: Society of the History of Medicine, 1996), pp. 39-46.. Details

Conference Proceedings

• History, Heritage and Health: Proceedings of the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of Medicine, Norfolk Island, 2-9 July, 1995 edited by Covacevich, Jeanette; Pearn, John; Case, Donna; Chapple, Ian; Phillips, Gael (Brisbane: Society of the History of Medicine, 1996), 439 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Couper, Patrick J.; and Mckay, Judith, 'Vale Jeanette Adelaide Covacevich, AM, PSM (1945 - 2015)', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum: Nature, 59 (2016), 257-71. Details
• Couper, Patrick, Mckay, Judith, Campbell, Bruce and Pearn, John, 'Obituary of Jeanette Covacevich AM 1945-2015', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 120 (2016), 75-6. Details
• Covacevich, J. A., '"He learned to look on nature": Lewis John Roberts, OAM, bushman and born naturalist', Queensland Naturalist, 52 (4/6) (2014), 61-74. Details
• Covacevich, J. A.; Sutherland, S. K.; Coventry, A. J.; and Cann, J., 'Obituary: Charles Tanner, herpetologist', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 42 (1) (1997), 377-8. Details
• Covacevich, Jeanette, 'First Formal Australian Record of a Tree Kangaroo: Aboriginal, not European', Aboriginal History, 26 (2002), 220-222. Details
• Endersby, Ian, 'Australian Natural History Medallion 2007: Jeanette Covacevich AM, PSM', The Victorian naturalist, 124 (6) (2007), 342-3. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q28921548. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/26085580. Details
• 'Covacevich, Jeanette (19450326-20151217)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-616521. Details