Person

Dell, John

Occupation
Biologist, Conservationist and Herpetologist

Summary

John Dell is a zoologist and conservationist whose research has ranged widely over vertebrate species. His main interest is in reptiles, particularly reproductive strategies and comparative biology of reptiles remaining in fragments of privately-owned land in the Western Australian wheatbelt. He discovered a number of unknown reptiles, as well as insects and spiders. For nearly 30 years Dell worked at the Department of Vertebrate Biogeography and Ecology, Western Australia Museum. For the Museum he was involved in surveys of the wheatbelt, eastern goldfields and the Kimberley region to document the plant and animal communities and assess conservation needs. One result of this work was a reassessment of criteria for establishing conservation reserves. Reports on these surveys were published in the Museum's Records. Dell joined the Western Australian Naturalists Club and served as President from 1974 to 1977. His activities for the Club included co-ordinating the mammal section in its surveys. Awards received by dell for his conservation work included the Australian Natural History Medallion in 1988 and the Serventy Memorial Lecturer for the Club in 1991

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Details

Chronology

1962 -
Career position - Member, Western Australian Naturalists Club
1971 - 1977
Career position - Vice-President, Western Australian Naturalists Club
1971 - 2000
Career position - Senior Technical Officer and researcher, Department of Vertebrate Biogeography and Ecology, Western Australia Museum
1974 - 1977
Career position - President, Western Australian Naturalists Society
1988
Award - Australian Natural History Medallion
1991
Award - Serventy Memorial Lecturer, Western Australian Naturalists Society
1991 - 2020
Career position - Editor, The Western Australian naturalist
2011
Award - Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to the advancement of natural history and conservation

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Archival resources

Western Australian Museum

  • John Dell - Records, 1971 - 1984; Western Australian Museum. Details

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Aplin, Ken P., Donnellan, S. C. and Dell, John, 'The herpetofauna of Faure Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia', Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement, 75 (2008), 39-53. Details
  • Chapman, A., Dell, J., Johnstone, R. E. and Storr, G. M., 'A vertebrate survey of Cockleshell Bay Reserve, Western Australia', Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement, 4 (1977), 1-87. Details
  • Chapman, Andrew and Dell, John, 'Biology and zoogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of the Western Australian wheatbelt', Records of the Western Australian Museum, 12 (1) (1985), 1-46. Details
  • Dell, J. and How, R. A., 'Mammals of the Darling Scarp, near Perth', The Western Australian naturalist, 17 (4) (1988), 86-93. Details
  • Dell, John and Dell, Bernard, 'Edgar Dell, Born 28 November 1901, Died: 18 April 2008', Western Australian Naturalist, 27 (3) (2010), 184-91. Details
  • Houghton, Sheila, 'Australian Natural History Medallion 1988 [awarded to John Dell]', Victorian naturalist, 105 (6) (1988), 150-1. Details
  • How, Richard A. and Dell, John, 'Ground vertebrate fauna of Perth's vegetation remnants: impact of 170 years of urbanization', Pacific conservation biology, 6 (3) (2000), 198-217. Details
  • Kitchener, Darrell John, Chapman, Andrew, Dell, John and Muir, B. G., 'Lizard assemblage and reserve size and structure in the Western Australian wheatbelt: some implications for conservation Biological conservation 17:25-62', Biological conservation 17:25-62, 17 (1980), 25-62. Details
  • Saffer, V. M. [and others], 'Pollination and revegetation in the south west of Western Australia', Western Australian naturalist, 22 (4) (2000), 221-79. Details
  • Smith, L. A., Johnstone, R. E. and Dell, John, 'Vertebrate fauna of the Eastern Group, Archipelago of the Recherche, Western Australia', Western Australian naturalist, 24 (4) (2005), 232-46. Details

Resources

See also

  • Johnstone, R. E., 'A history of ornithology at the Western Australian Museum' in Contributions to the History of Australasian Ornithology, Davis, William E.; Recher, Harry E.; Boles, Walter E.; and Jackson, Jerome A., eds (Cambridge, Mass.: Nuttall Ornithological Club, 2008), pp. 165-98. Details

McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 18 February 2025

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