Person

Cameron, Mary Patricia (1925 - 2001)

AM

Born
1925
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Died
2001
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation
Botanist and Teacher

Summary

Mary Cameron, a teacher and librarian, was associated with the Queen Victoria Museum from 1969 when she became the Honorary Curator of the Museum's herbarium. Over the next 31 years she reorganised and improved the storage of the herbarium's collections, as well as collecting specimens and participating in the Museum's research projects. The herbarium is now recognised as a major centre for the study of the Tasmanian flora. In recognition of her invaluable work as a volunteer at the Museum she was made an Honorary Research Associate in 1987. Cameron was a active member of the Launceston Field Naturalists Club, ultimately becoming a Life Member. She edited for the Club Guide to flowers and plants of Tasmania, first published in 1981 and issued in multiple editions since. Other organisations in which she was involved included the Northern Branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania, the Flora Advisory Committee of the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service and the Tasmanian Heritage Commission. In 1999 Cameron was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion.

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Details

Chronology

1947
Education - BSc, University of Tasmania
1947 - 1948
Career position - Demonstrator in botany, University of Tasmania
1969 - 1972
Career position - Honorary Curator of the Herbarium, Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston
1972 - 1987
Career position - Honorary Botanist, Queen Victoria Museum
1987
Career position - Chairman, Northern Branch, Royal Society of Tasmania
1987 - 2001?
Career position - Honorary Research Associate, Queen Victoria Museum
1992 - 1993
Career position - Chairman, Northern Branch, Royal Society of Tasmania
1993
Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of service to botanical and environmental conservation
1999
Award - Australian Natural History Medallion, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria
2006
Award - Inducted into the Honour Roll of Women, Tasmania

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Books

  • Cameron, Mary P., Guide to flowers and plants of Tasmania (Sydney: Reed, 1981), 120 pp. Details
  • Plomley, Brian; and Cameron, Mary: edited by C. B. Tassell, Plant foods of the Tasmanian Aborigines (Launceston, Tas.: Queen Victoria Museum, 1993), 27 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Endersby, Ian, 'Australian Natural History Medallion 1999: Mary Patricia Cameron', Victorian naturalist, 116 (5) (1999), 160-1. Details

Resources

Helen Cohn

Created: 15 April 2025

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