Person
Beadle, Noel Charles William (1914 - 1998)
- Born
- 20 December 1914
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 13 October 1998
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia - Occupation
- Botanist and Plant ecologist
Summary
Noel Beadle was a plant ecologist highly influential in the field in Australia, particularly through his publications and those who had been his students. After completing his university studies he became Demonstrator in the Department of Botany at the University of Sydney. In 1939 he participated in a botanical collecting trip to western New South Wales organised by the Linnean Society of New South Wales. This led to his appointment as Research Officer and Botanist to the newly-created Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales. Based at Condobolin, Beadle's research resulted the first coherent classification and map of the vegetation of the area, published as The vegetation and pastures of western New South Wales, with special reference to soil erosion (1948), considered a seminal work. After eight years teaching botany at the University of Sydney, Beadle was appointed inaugural Professor of Botany at the University of New England in 1954, a position he held for 25 years. He continued to publish highly-regarded works, including The vegetation of Australia (1981) and the 6-volume Students Flora of north eastern New South Wales (1971-1987). Beadle's work was recognised by the award of the Royal Society of New South Wales's Clarke Medal in 1982 and the Ecological Society of Australia Gold Medal in 1985. The N. C. W. Beadle Herbarium at the University of New England is a research collection of approximately 100,000 vascular plant specimens.
Details
Chronology
- 1939
- Career event - Participated in Linnean Society of New South Wales collecting trip to outback New South Wales
- 1939 - 1946
- Career position - Research Officer and Botanist, Soil Conservation Service, Condobolin, New South Wales
- 1946 - 1954
- Career position - Lecturer (later Senior Lecturer), department of Botany, University of Sydney
- 1954 - 1979
- Career position - Foundation Professor of Botany, University of New England
- 1980 - 1998
- Career position - Emeritus Professor, University of New England
- 1982
- Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
- 1985
- Award - Ecological Society of Australia Gold Medal
- 1993 - 1998
- Award - Fellow of the University, University of New England
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Books
- Beadle, N. C. W., The vegetation and pastures of western New South Wales, with special reference to soil erosion (Sydney: Department of Conservation of New South Wales, 1948), 281 pp. Details
- Beadle, N. C. W., The vegetation of Australia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 690 pp. Details
- Beadle, N. C. W., Carolin, R. C., and Evans, O. D., Flora of the Sydney Region (Sydney: Reed, 1072), 724 pp. Details
- Beadle, N. C. W., Evans, O. D. and Carolin, R. C., Handbook of the vascular plants of the Sydney district and Blue Mountains (Armidale, N.S.W.: Brown Gem Print, 1962), 597 pp. Details
- Beadle, N. C. W.; edited by Gordon J. White, Botany in the backblocks: from 1939 (Armidale, N.S.W.: University of New England Department of Botany, 1995), 121 pp. Details
- Beadle, N. C. W.; illustrated by Lois D. Beadle, Students Flora of north eastern New South Wales, 6 vols (Armidale, N.S.W.: University of New England, Department of Botany, 1971-1987). Details
Journal Articles
- Foreman, Don, 'A personal tribute to Emeritus Professor Noel Charles William Beadle 20th December 1914 to 13th October 1998', Australian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 95 (1998), 24-5. Details
See also
- Fagg, Murray, 'Beadle, Noel Charles William (1914 - 1998)', Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators, Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH), 2010, https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/beadle-noel.html. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 15 January 2026