Caughley, Graeme James (1937 - 1994)

Summary

Graeme Caughley was internationally recognised for his research on mammalian populations. Much of his research centred on the use of mathematical methodologies in estimating mammalian populations and their cycles of decline and expansion, with significant implications for the management of wildlife and feral species. His early work focussed on kangaroos, and the tahr in New Zealand. Consultancies for the F.A.O. in Africa expanded his work to include elephant. On joining the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Rangelands Research Caughley developed ways of repeating estimation of kangaroo numbers across the Australian inland. In collaboration with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service he undertook a unique field-study which linked weather, plant growth, rate of increase of kangaroos, and sustainable harvesting. He received several awards for his work, including the Species Survival Commission's Sir Peter Scott Award for Conservation Merit. The Graeme Caughley Travelling Fellowship, which was inaugurated in 1996 by the Australian Academy of Science, enables Australian and New Zealand ecologists to travel overseas to deliver lectures. The Caughley Medal has been awarded since 2003 by the Australian Wildlife Management Society to recognise exceptional individuals who have dedicated their careers to the advancement of wildlife management in Australia and New Zealand.

Details

In 1993 Caughley was awarded the CSIRO Chairman's Medal for Science and Engineering Excellence for his research achievements and leadership in the field of vertebrate ecology.

Chronology

1954 - 1955

Career position - Government hunter, New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs

1956 - 1958

Career position - Research assistant, New Zealand Forest Service

1958 - 1959

Career position - Biologist, New Zealand Antarctic Division

1959

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

1962

Education - MSc, University of Sydney

1962 - 1967

Career position - Biologist, New Zealand Forest Service

1967

Education - PhD, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

1968 - 1969

Career position - FAO wildlife biologist in Nepal, Afghanistan and Kenya

1969 - 1971

Career position - Research fellow in Zoology, University of Sydney

1970

Award - Queen Elizabeth II Postdoctoral Fellowship

1971 - 1972

Career position - FAO wildlife biologist in Zambia and Kenya

1973 - 1979

Career position - Lecturer (later Senior Lecturer), School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney

1978

Award - Book of the Year Award, Wildlife Society, Washington D.C, U.S.A., for Analysis of vertebrate populations

1979

Education - DSc, University of Sydney

1979 - 1982

Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Wildlife Research

1982 - 1987

Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Rangelands Research

1987

Award - Whitley Book Award Certificate of Commendation (with co-editors), Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, for Kangaroos: their ecology and management in the sheep rangelands of Australia

1987 - 1988

Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology

1988 - 1994

Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology

1989 - 1990

Career position - Special Commissioner (part-time) on the Forests and Timber enquiry of the Resource Assessment Commission, chaired by Mr Justice Stewart

1992

Career position - President, Australian Wildlife Management Society

1992 - 1994

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science

1993

Award - CSIRO Chairman's Medal for Science and Engineering Excellence

1994

Award - Peter Scott Award for Conservation Merit (posthumous), Species Survival Commission, International Union for the Conservation of Nature

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Graeme James Caughley - Records, 1954 - 1995, MS 198; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Caughley, Graeme, Analysis of vertebrate populations (London: Wiley, 1977), 234 pp. Details
• Caughley, Graeme and Gunn, Anne, Conservation biology in theory and practice . (Carlton, Vic: Blackwell Science, '996), 459 pp. Details
• Caughley, Graeme and Sinclair, A. R. E., Wildlife ecology and management (Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1994), 334 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Morton, S. R., 'Caughley, Graeme James (1937-1994), animal ecologist and conservation biologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 144-145, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/caughley-graeme-james-28256. Details

Edited Books

• Caughley, Graeme, Shepherd, Neil and Short, Jeff eds, Kangaroos: their ecology and management in the sheep rangelands of Australia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 253 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Barker, R. D. and Caughley, Graeme, 'Distribution and abundance of kangaroos (Marsupalia: Macropodidae) at the time of European contact: Tasmania', Australian mammalogy, 13 (1990), 157-66. https://doi.org/10.1071/AM90016. Details
• Barker, R. D. and Caughley, Graeme, 'Distribution and abundance of kangaroos (Marsupalia: Macropodidae) at the time of European contact: Victoria', Australian mammalogy, 15 (1992), 81-8. https://doi.org/10.1071/AM92011. Details
• Barker, R. D. and Caughley, Graeme 1994, 'Distribution and abundance of kangaroos (Marsupalia: Macropodidae) at the time of European contact: South Australia', Australian mammalogy, 17 (1994), 73-83. https://doi.org/10.1071/AM94008. Details
• Caughley, G., Short, J., Grigg, G. C. and Nix, H., 'Kangaroos and climate: an analysis of distribution', Journal of animal ecology, 56 (1987), 751-61. https://doi.org/10.2307/4946. Details
• Caughley, Graeme, 'Eruption of ungulate populations with emphasis on Himalayan tahr in New Zealand', Ecology, 51 (1970), 53-71. https://doi.org/10.2307/1933599. Details
• Caughley, Graeme, 'The elephant problem - an alternative hypothesis', East African wildlife journal, 14 (1976), 265-83. Details
• Caughley, Graeme, 'Directions in conservation biology', Journal of animal ecology, 63 (1) (1994), 215-44. https://doi.org/10.2307/5542. Details
• Coulson, Graeme, 'Behavioural ecology of red and grey kangaroos: Caughley's insights into individuals, associations and dispersion', Wildlife research, 36 (1) (2008), 57-69. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08038. Details
• Gunn, A. and Walker, B., 'Obituary: Graeme J. Caughley (1937 - 1994)', Journal of animal ecology, 63 (3) (1995), 739-40. Details
• Krebs, Charles J., 'Population dynamics of large and small mammals: Graeme Caughley's grand vision', Wildlife research, 36 (1) (2008), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08004. Details
• May, R. M., 'Graeme Caughley and the emerging science of conservation biology', Trends in ecology and evolution, 9 (10) (1994), 368-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(94)90054-x. Details
• Sibly, Richard M., 'Graeme Caughley and the fundamentals of population ecology: a personal view', Wildlife research, 36 (1) (2008), 16-22. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08024. Details
• Sinclair, A. R.E. and Metzger, Kristine L., 'Advances in wildlife ecology and the influence of Graeme Caughley', Wildlife research, 36 (1) (2008), 8-15. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08017. Details
• Tyndale-Biscoe, C. H., 'Graeme James Caughley 1937-1994', Historical Records of Australian Science, 12 (3) (1999), 363-381. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9991230363. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Anon, 'Graeme James Caughley (1937 - 1994)', Canberra Times (1994), 4. https://oa.anu.edu/obituary/caughley-graeme-james-28256/text36506. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5592291. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/46937995. Details
• 'Caughley, Graeme (19370928-19940216)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-459039. Details

Resource Sections

• Ward, C., 'Graeme James Caughley [1937-1994]', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Caughley-Graeme-James. Details

See also

• Ward, Colin, The Chair's Medal for Science and Engineering Excellence, CSIROpedia, CSIRO, 2023. https://csiropedia.csiro.au/chairmans-medal/. Details