Person

Dixon, Joan Maureen (1937 - 2019)

Born
4 May 1937
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Died
24 June 2019
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Mammalogist, Museum curator and Zoologist

Summary

Joan Dixon was a highly-respected expert on Australia's mammal species. For over 35 years she was Curator of the vertebrate, and particularly the mammal collections, at the National Museum of Victoria (later Museum Victoria). Her principal research was into cetaceans and smaller marsupials, but extended to galaxiid fish and stingrays, and extinct mammalian species. As Curator she had oversight of the collections of Baldwin Spencer, and the zoological specimens of Donald Thomson. She produced reports on the vertebrate fauna and sites of zoological significance in various parts of Victoria, some for the Land Conservation Council. Other publications included providing updated notes for modern reproductions of the works of John Gould. Dixon was an active member of the Australian mammal Society and served a term as President.

Details

Chronology

1959
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Tasmania
1960
Career position - Demonstrator in zoology, University of Queensland
1961 - 1963
Career position - Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, Monash University
1963
Career event - Joined the staff of the National Museum of Victoria
1966 - 1978
Career position - Curator of Vertebrates, National Museum of Victoria
1975 - 1979
Career position - Member of Council, Australian Mammal Society
1978 - 1983
Career position - Curator of Mammals, National Museum of Victoria
1982 -
Career position - Associate (later Fellow), Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne
1983 - 1994
Career position - Curator of Mammals, Museum of Victoria
1994 - 1998
Career position - Senior Curator, Mammalogy, Museum of Victoria
1998 - 2001
Career position - Senior Curator, Mammalogy, Museum Victoria

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Books

  • Dixon, Joan M.; and Frigo, Lina, The cetacean collection of the Museum of Victoria: an annotated catalogue (Croydon, Vic.: Australian Deer Research Foundation, 1994), 38 pp. Details
  • Gould, John, Kangaroos, with modern commentary by Joan M. Dixon (South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1973), 152 pp. Details
  • Gould, John, A Monograph of the Macropodidae, or Family of Kangaroos (Melbourne: Lansdowne Editions, 1981), [63], 13 pp. Details
  • Gould, John, The mammals of Australia, with modern notes by Joan M. Dixon (South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1983), 416 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Dixon, Joan M., 'Historical Aspects of Collection Conservation in Australia' in Mammal Collection Management, Hugh L. Genoways; Clyde Jones and Olga L. Rossolimo, eds (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1987), pp. 157-172. Details

Edited Books

  • Dixon, Joan M.; and Huxley, Linda eds, Donald Thomson's mammals and fishes of northern Australia (Melbourne: Thomas Nelson, 1985), 210 pp. Details

Journal Articles

Helen Cohn

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