News Archive

A man not afraid of stirring controversy among local gardeners and environmentalists - the late Emeritus Professor George Seddon - will be honoured at an inaugural lecture at The University of Western Australia this Thursday, June 19.

Dr Neville Marchant, Honorary Research Fellow, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority and former Director of the WA Herbarium, will deliver the lecture:  ‘Australian Icons - the Eucalypt Family Myrtaceae'.

The lecture will be hosted by UWA Friends of the Grounds, which was established through the Hackett Foundation in 2000 to enhance the University's grounds through an annual program of activities.

UWA Friends of the Grounds Chair Rose Chaney said Dr Marchant, a UWA graduate, would provide a fascinating insight into the Myrtaceae family.

"Professor Seddon would have admired the widespread Myrtaceae family, which is among the most common and tenacious of all plant families in Australia," Mrs Chaney said.  "They are seen in many of the world's biodiversity hotspots including WA."

A senior honorary research fellow at UWA who worked in his field for 40 years, Professor Seddon was probably best known in WA for his book A Sense of Place , published in 1976, which brought the needs of the fragile Swan River Plain to public attention.

Other publications include: A House, A Cottage and A Shop;  Land and Language;  Imagining the West, Swan Song:  reflections on Perth and Western Australia and The Australian Back Yard .  He enjoyed showing plant enthusiasts around his garden in High Street, Fremantle, and was proud of his collection of drought-tolerant species.

The lecture topic is timely in an era of climate change and will be held at 7pm on Thursday, June 19, at the new UWA Watersports Complex on the corner of Hackett Drive and Stirling Highway.  Entry is $5 for UWA Friends of the Grounds members or $10 for non-members.  For bookings contact: [email protected]

Media references

Judith Edwards (UWA Office of Development)  (+61 8)  6488 8541
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716