Person
Covacevich, Jeanette Adelaide (1945 - 2015)
- Born
- 26 March 1945
Innisfail, Queensland, Australia - Died
- 17 December 2015
Cairns, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Herpetologist and Museum curator
Summary
Jeanette Covacevich was a herpetologist whose research interests were mainly in the taxonomy, zoogeography and conservation of Australo-Papuan reptiles, especially those from rainforests, deserts and heaths. Her research also included Aboriginal history, envenomation, and documenting the range and status of the Queensland fauna, particularly endangered vertebrates. She described 30 new species of snakes. Covacevich was instrumental in the conservation of bioregions such as the Brigalow Belt, North Stradbroke Island and the Wet Tropics. As Curator at the Queensland Museum she expanded the collections of reptiles and frogs from 7,000 to approximately 60,000 specimens. Covacevich had a long association with the medical profession as an expert consultant on snake envenomation and identification. She was active in many scientific and conservation societies including the Royal Society of Queensland, the Queensland Naturalist's Club, the Australian Society of Herpetologists and the Rainforest Conservation Society of Queensland
Details
Chronology
- 1977
- Education - Master of Science (MSc), Griffith University
- 1978 - 1984
- Career position - Secretary, Stradbroke Island Management Organisation
- 1978 - 1992
- Career position - Senior Curator (Reptiles), Queensland Museum
- 1988 - 1990
- President, Australian Society of Herpetologists
- 1992 - 2002
- Career position - Senior Curator (Vertebrates), Queensland Museum
- 1995
- Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to science, particularly in the fields of herpetology and conservation
- 1995
- Career position - President, Royal Society of Queensland
- 1996 - 2002
- Career position - Member, Scientific and Clinical Emergencies Subcommittee of the Graduate Medical Course, University of Queensland
- 1997 - 1999
- Career position - Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Queensland Nature Conservation Act
- 2002
- Life event - Retired
- 2002 - 2015
- Career position - Honorary Research Associate, Queensland Museum
- 2003
- Award - Queensland Museum Medal
- 2003
- Award - Queensland Natural History Award, Queensland Naturalists' Club
- 2003
- Award - Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to the Queensland Museum, to the wider scientific community, and to the people of Queensland
- 2007
- Award - Australian Natural History Medallion, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria
Related entries
Published resources
Book Sections
- Covacevich, Jeanette, 'Epicentre or Outback' in Health, History and Horizons, John Pearn, ed. (Brisbane: Amphion Press, 1992), pp. 3-15. Details
- Covacevich, Jeanette; Irvine, Tony; Davis, George, 'A Rainforest Pharmacopoeia: Five Thousand Years of Effective Medicine' in Pioneer Medicine in Australia, John Pearn, ed. (Brisbane: Amphion Press, 1988), pp. 159-174, 299-301. Details
Conference Papers
- Covacevich, J.A.; Ogilvie, A.; Walker, F., '"Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make...": Profiles of Prisoners on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia', in History, Heritage and Health: Proceedings of the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of the History of Medicine, Norfolk Island, 2-9 July, 1995 edited by Covacevich, Jeanette, Pearn, John, Case, Donna, Chapple, Ian and Phillips, Gael (Brisbane: Society of the History of Medicine, 1996), pp. 39-46.. Details
Conference Proceedings
- History, Heritage and Health: Proceedings of the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of Medicine, Norfolk Island, 2-9 July, 1995 edited by Covacevich, Jeanette; Pearn, John; Case, Donna; Chapple, Ian; Phillips, Gael (Brisbane: Society of the History of Medicine, 1996), 439 pp. Details
Journal Articles
- Couper, Patrick J.; and Mckay, Judith, 'Vale Jeanette Adelaide Covacevich, AM, PSM (1945 - 2015)', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum: Nature, 59 (2016), 257-71. Details
- Couper, Patrick, Mckay, Judith, Campbell, Bruce and Pearn, John, 'Obituary of Jeanette Covacevich AM 1945-2015', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 120 (2016), 75-6. Details
- Covacevich, J. A., '"He learned to look on nature": Lewis John Roberts, OAM, bushman and born naturalist', Queensland Naturalist, 52 (4/6) (2014), 61-74. Details
- Covacevich, J. A.; Sutherland, S. K.; Coventry, A. J.; and Cann, J., 'Obituary: Charles Tanner, herpetologist', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 42 (1) (1997), 377-8. Details
- Covacevich, Jeanette, 'First Formal Australian Record of a Tree Kangaroo: Aboriginal, not European', Aboriginal History, 26 (2002), 220-222. Details
- Endersby, Ian, 'Australian Natural History Medallion 2007: Jeanette Covacevich AM, PSM', The Victorian naturalist, 124 (6) (2007), 342-3. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q28921548. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/26085580. Details
- 'Covacevich, Jeanette (19450326-20151217)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-616521. Details
See also
- Amey, Andrew P. and Couper, Patrick J., 'Herpetological type specimens held at the Queensland Museum: a catalogue', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - nature: 64: 19-259, 64 (2022), 19-259. https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.64.2022.2020-12. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 21 August 2019