Dargavel, John Brunton (1932 - 2024)

Summary

John Dargavel had a long and distinguished career in forestry. Initially he worked in quantitative forest management, starting with the South Australian Woods and Forests Department. For 20 years he was in technical and management roles in Gippsland for Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd, Australia's major private forestry company. Much of his work related to use of fertilisers to improve yield from plantations. In 1978 he began his PhD studies at the Australian National University: his association with the University continued until 2023. After retiring he was a Visiting Fellow at the Fenner School for Environment and Society. In his later career Dargavel was a pioneer in forest history and became interested in the social and political dimensions of forests and forestry. He was a founding member and long-serving President of the Australian Forest History Society.

Details

Chronology

1956

Education - BSc (forestry), University of Edinburgh, United Lingdom

1969 - 1970

Career position - Research fellow, University of Georgia, United States

1970

Education - MSc (forestry), University of Melbourne

1982 -

Career position - Lecturer in Forestry, Australian National University

1983

Education - PhD, Australian National University

1988 - 2004

Career position - President, Australian Forest History Society

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Dargavel, John, Fashioning Australia's Forests (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1995), 333 pp. Details
• Dargavel, John, The Zealous Conservator: a Life of Charles Lane Poole (Perth: Univesity of Western Australia Press, 2008), 252 pp. Details
• Dargavel, John, Anthropocene days (Winwick, Cambridgeshire: White Horse Press, 2023), 228 pp. Details
• Dargavel, John and Johann, Elisabeth, Science and Hope: a Forest History (Cambridge: The White Horse Press, 2013), 269 pp. Details

Conference Papers

• Dargavel, John, 'A Review of Australian Forest Industry and Labour history', in Australia's Ever Changing Forests: Proceedings of the 1st National Conference on Australian Forest History, Canberra 1988 edited by Kevin J. Frawley and Noel M. Semple (Canberra: Australian Defence Force Academy, Department of Geography and Oceanography, 1988), pp. 257-274.. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'Charles Lane Poole in the transition from Empire', in A forest consciousness: 6th national conference of the Australian Forest History Society edited by Calver, Michael [and others] (Rotterdam, Netherlands: Millpress, 2005), pp. 65-74., https://www.foresthistory.org.au/Proceedings2004/107.pdf. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'The lives of forty South Australian foresters', in Australia's Ever-changing Forests VII: Proceedings of the Ninth National Conference of the Australian Forest History Society Inc edited by Feary, Sue and Robinson, Rob (Canberra: Australian Forest History Society, 2016), p. 14., https://www.foresthistory.org.au/2015_conference_papers/11%20Dargavel%20-%20The%20Lives%20of%20Forty%20South%20Australian%20Foresters.pdf. Details
• Roche, Michael; Dargavel, John and Mills, Jenny, 'Tracking the KTC from Kauri to Karri to Chatlee', in Australia's Ever-Changing Forests II: Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Australia's Forest History, Creswick, 1992 edited by John Dargavel and Sue Feary (Creswick: ANU Society, 1992), pp. 187-206.. Details

Conference Proceedings

• Australia's ever changing forests III: proceedings of the third national conference on Australian forest history edited by Dargavel, John (Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies The Australian National University, 1997), 360 pp. Details
• Changing Tropical Forests: Historical Perspectives on Today's Challenges in Asia, Australasia and Oceania: Workshop meeting, Canberra, 16-18 May 1988 edited by Dargavel, John; Dixon, Kay; Semple, Noel (Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, ANU, 1989), 456 pp. Details
• Australia's Ever-Changing Forests II: Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Australia's Forest History, Creswick, 1992 edited by Dargavel, John; Feary, Sue (Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, 1992), 302 pp. Details
• Australia's Ever-changing Forests V: Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on Australian Forest History edited by Dargavel, John; Gaughwin, Denise; Libbis, Brenda (Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, 2002), 442 pp. Details
• Australia's Ever-Changing Forests IV: Proceedings of the Fourth National Conference on Australian Forest History edited by Dargavel, John; Libbis, Brenda (Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies and the Australian Forest History Society, 1999), 374 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Dargavel, John; Hart, Diane; Libbis, Brenda ed., Perfumed Pineries: Environmental History of Australia's Callitris Forests (Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, 2001), 209 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Dadswell, Gordon, Dargavel, John and Evans, Philip D., 'Wood collections in Australia: a history of expansion and retraction', Australian Forestry, 78 (1) (2015), 18-28. Details
• Dargavel, J., 'An initial inventory of Australian foresters' lives', Australian Forestry, 79 (4) (2016), 265-70. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'Conceding to Capital: Resource Regimes in the Forests of British Columbia and Tasmania', Australian Canadian Studies, 6 (2) (1989), 93-108. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'The coming of age of Australian forests', Environment and history, 4 (2) (1998), 169-90. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'From Exploitation to Science: Lane Poole's Forest Surveys of Papua and New Guinea, 1922-1924', Historical Records of Australian Science, 17 (1) (2006), 71-90, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR05014. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'Iron, Steel and Timber: A Transient Heritage', Australian Journal of Multi-disciplinary Engineering, 6 (1) (2008), 67-76, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.167150106180343. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'Contested Forestries, Contested Educations: a Centenary Reflection', Australian Journal of Forestry, 75 (2012), 15-21. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'Views and perspectives: why does Australia have "forest wars"?', International Review of Environmental History, 4 (1) (2018), 33-51. Details
• Dargavel, John; Evans, Philip D.; and Dadswell, Gordon, 'From Science to Heritage: the History of a Wood Collection', Historical Records of Australian Science, 25 (1) (2014), 43-54, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR14004. Details
• Dovers, Stephen R.; and Dargavel, John, 'Environmental History: a Confluence of Disciplines', Australian Historical Association Bulletin, 66-67 (1991), 25-30. Details
• Kanowski, P. and Turner, B., 'A tribute to Dr John Dargavel 15 August 1932 - 20 July 2024', Australian Forestry, 87 (4) (2024), 195-6, https://doi.org/10.1080/00049158.2024.2415827© 2024 Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA). Details
• Roche, Michael; and Dargavel, John, 'Imperial ethos, dominions reality: forestry education in New Zealand and Australia, 1910 - 1965', Environment and history, 14 (3) (2008), 523-43, https://doi.org/10.3197/096734008X368420. Details
• Stubbs, Brett, 'Celebrating 20 years of the Society - a time for reflection', Australian Forest History Society newsletter, 50 (2008), 2. Details
• Urwin, Jessica, ' Reflecting on our Anthropocene days: an interview with John Dargavel', Global environment, 16 (3) (2023), 594-609, https://doi.org/10.3197/ge.2023.160306. Details

Resources

• 'Dargavel, John (1932-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-612451. Details

Resource Sections

• Dargavel, John, 'Charles & Ruth Lane Poole', in Uncommon Lives, 2005, http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/life.asp?lID=7. Details
• Dargavel, John, 'Australia's Foresters', in Australian dictionary of biography, Australian National University, 2015, https://adb.anu.edu.au/essay/17. Details

Reviews

• Bowman, D.M.J.S., Australian Rainforests: Islands of Green in a Land of Fire (2000)
  Dargavel, John, Historical Records of Australian Science records of Australian Science, 13 (4), (2001), 559-560. https://www.publish.csiro.au/HR/issue/3266/. Details
• Youl, Rob, Fry, Brian and Hateley, Ron, Circumspice: One Hundred Years of Forestry Education centred on Creswick, Victoria (2010)
  Dargavel, John, Historical Records of Australian Science, 22 (1), (2011), 184-5, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR11005. Details
• Dargavel, John, Anthropocene days (2023)
  McNeill, John, Environment and History, 30 (4), (2024), 711-2, https://liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/whp.eh.63830915903615. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_d.html. Details