[Taxacom] Death of Ken Hill, eucalypt and cycad specialist

[Neil Snow]

Ken's 1995 treatment of Corymbia with Laurie Johnson (Telopea 6: 185-504) was a remarkable synthesis of a difficult and diverse group. I emailed Ken to congratulate him on this work after he sent me a reprint.  Aspiring younger taxonomists may want to study this treatment as an example of excellent, thorough descriptive work.  NS

-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Paul van Rijckevorsel
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 12:34 AM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Death of Ken Hill, eucalypt and cycad specialist

I would have assumed that the discovery of Wollemia nobilis was the
high point of his career, but apparently that is too narrow a point of
view...

Even a  very brief search leads quickly to The Cycad Pages, which look
quite impressive, at http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/PlantNet/cycad/
("Written and maintained by Ken Hill").

A distinguished botanist indeed,
Paul

From: "Karen Wilson" <Karen.Wilson at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au>
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2010 10:22 AM

> Australian botany has suffered another sad loss: Ken Hill has died after
> an extended and debilitating illness.
>
> Ken had a long career here at NSW as a botanist, having previously been a
> geologist. He  worked closely with the late Lawrie Johnson on eucalypts,
> and became a world authority on them and cycads, with interests also in
> other groups such as Hoya. He took a keen interest in electronic
> presentation of data from the late 1980s, and was adept at writing
> programs and putting together websites. He played a key role in setting up
> PlantNET as our web-based way to deliver plant information
> (http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au).
> Sadly, Ken's declining health meant that he had to retire early, in 2004.
> He died yesterday, two days before his 62nd birthday.
>
> As one close colleague put it, Ken represented 'that mixture of humility,
> scientist and tech geek the world needs'.
> We will all miss his quiet, amiable presence.
>
> Karen Wilson
> __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
> Karen L. Wilson AM  |  Senior Research Scientist  Plant Diversity Section
> |  National Herbarium of NSW  |  Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, Mrs
> Macquaries Road, SYDNEY NSW 2000, AUSTRALIA
>
> Adjunct Assoc Prof, University of New England
> Secretary-General XVIII IBC Organising Committee - to take place in
> Melbourne July 2011 -  www.ibc2011.com
> Phone: +61 2 9231 8137  |  Fax: +61 2  9251 7231  |  email:
> karen.wilson at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au  |  website: www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au
>
>
> The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust is part of Department of
> Environment, Climate Change and Water  (NSW).
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