Wallace, Carden Crea (1946 - )

Summary

Carden Wallace is widely recognised for her expertise in staghorn corals (genus Acropora), one of the principal groups of coral responsible for reef-building in the Indo-Pacific region. In her research she developed theories on the evolution, genetics and dispersal of staghorns over 20 million years. Wallace and her colleagues were the first to discover the environmental factors that induce mass coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef: for this research they were awarded the Pol Eureka Prize for Environmental Research by the Australian Museum. In 1987 Wallace became the inaugural Curator (later Director) of the Museum of Tropical Queensland (initially the North Queensland Branch of the Queensland Museum). Her program in this role included the development of exhibits and outreach programs, especially for children, and collaboration with researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Studies and the James Cook University. She also assembled a significant collection of coral specimens from Australian tropical and subtropical coasts, and from nearby waters. Wallace has played central roles in professional organisations, including as an office bearer of the Australian Museums and Galleries Association, the Australian Coral Reef Society, and the International Society for Reef Studies.

Details

Chronology

1970

Education - Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc(Hons)), University of Queensland

1970 - 1976

Career position - Curator of Lower Vertebrates at the Queensland Museum

1975 -

Career position - Member, International Society for Fossil Corals and Sponges

1975 - 1990

Career position - Member of Council, Australian Coral Reef Society

1979

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Queensland

1979 - 1980

Career position - Research Scientist, Australian Institute if Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville, Queensland

1980 - 1985

Career position - Research Fellow in Marine Biology at James Cook University of North Queensland

1985 - 1987

Career position - Scientific Editor (molluscs), Australian Biological Resources Study

1987 - 2003

Career position - Inaugural Curator (later Director), Museum of Tropical Queensland

1988 - 1989

Career position - Secretary, Australian Coral Reef Society

1988 - 1992

Career position - President, Queensland Branch, Australian Museums and Galleries Association

1988 - 1992

Career position - National Councillor, Australian Museums and Galleries Association

1990 - 1993

Career position - Small Museums Grants Committee Member, Arts Queensland

1991 - 1996

Career position - Editorial Committee Member, Invertebrate taxonomy

1992

Award - Pol Eureka Prize for Environmental Research, Australian Museum

1994 - 1995

Career position - Member of Council, Australian Marine Sciences Association

1994 - 1996

Career position - Council Member, Queensland Branch, Australian Museums and Galleries Association

1994 - 2002

Career position - Member, Senior Management Group, Queensland Museum

1995 - 2000

Career position - Advisory Committee Member, Australian Biological Resources Study

1999 - 2002

Career position - Member of Council, International Society for Reef Studies

2003 - 2014

Career position - Principal Scientist, Museum of Tropical Queensland

2007 -

Career position - Editorial Board member, Ocean Geographic Society

2009

Award - Queensland Museum Medal

2012 - 2014

Career position - Adjunct Professorial Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University

2014 -

Career position - Emeritus Principal Scientist, Queensland Museum

2021

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to marine science, and to museums and galleries

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

Articles

• 'Carden Wallace', WISENET Journal, 34 (March) (1994). https://web.archive.org/web/20130508235647/http://www.wisenet-australia.org/profiles/qldmus.htm. Details

Books

• Wallace, Carden C., Staghorn corals of the world: a revision of the coral genus Acropora (Scleractinia; Astrocoeniina; Acroporidae) worldwide, with emphasis on morphology, phylogeny and biogeography (Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO, 1999), 422 pp. Details
• Wallace, Carden; and Aw, Michael, Acropora: staghorn corals: a "getting to know you": and identification guide, Indian Ocean, South East Asia, Pacific Ocean (Carlingford, N.S.W.: OceanNEnvironment, 2000), 126 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Foxwell-Norton, Kerrie; Anderson, Deb; and Leitch, Anne M., 'Women of the Great Barrier Reef: stories of gender and conservation', Queensland review, 28 (2) (2021), 150-65. https://doi.org/doi 10.1017/qre.2022.12. Details
• Harrison, P. L.; Babcock, R. C.; Bull, G. D.; Oliver, J. K.; Wallace, C. C.; and Willis, B. L., 'Mass spawning in tropical reef corals', Science, 223 (1984), 1186-9. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.223.4641.1186. Details
• Hutchings, Pat; Brown, Barbara E.; Byrne, Maria; Hamylton, Sarah; and Spencer, Tom, 'The remarkable contributions of ten outstanding women to Australian coral reef science', Historical Records of Australian Science, 34 (1) (2023), 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR22009. Details
• Wallace, Carden C.: Done, Barbara J.: and Muir, Paul R., 'Revision and catalogue of worldwide staghorn corals Acropora and Isopora (Scleractinia; Acroporidae) in the Museum of Tropical Queensland', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum: Nature, 57 (2012), 1-255, https://www.museum.qld.gov.au/collections-and-research/memoirs/nature-57/mqm-n57-wallace-et-al. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q20961696. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/73577752. Details
• 'Wallace, Carden', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1473941. Details