[Taxacom] Vale Surrey Jacobs

[Karen Wilson]

Dr Surrey Jacobs: Outstanding Australian Botanist


It is our sad duty to inform you that our colleague and friend Dr Surrey Jacobs died today, at the untimely age of 63. Last Friday was officially Surrey's last day of duty but, as many know, he has been ill for about a year. This of course did not stop him coming to work one morning a week until recently, and he has also been working hard at home to wrap up his numerous research projects or to pass on materials to his collaborators to finish.

Surrey did his PhD at the University of Sydney on 'Ecological studies on the genera Triodia and Plectrachne in Australia', after doing a systematics Honours project on these grasses. He joined the Gardens' staff as a systematic botanist in 1971 and has worked here ever since, being promoted to the highest level in the NSW Research Scientist scale - Senior Principal Research Scientist - last year.

His passing leaves a great hole in botanical expertise, both nationally and internationally, especially in waterplants, grasses, chenopods and weeds. His broad interests in 'plant matters' led to him being involved in many wetlands and catchment advisory committees in NSW and elsewhere. Apart from his botanical expertise, many people here will miss having him around to offer sage and practical advice on a wide range of matters to them individually,

A week ago, we presented him with a book of reminiscences and messages of appreciation, with individual contributions from over 50 colleagues and 'group' pages covering many others. Besides the individual contributions, we included extra photos, some of them showing his renowned prowess with chook-breeding, jam-making and room-cluttering. It's a marvellous tribute from many people to a very productive 40+ year career. Surrey's scientific legacy will continue to grow, since he and his collaborators around the world have a wide range of manuscripts at various stages of preparation/publication.

We will be publishing a special issue of our sytematics journal Telopea in Surrey's honour next year. It will include scientific papers by about 30 of his colleagues - a fitting acknowledgement of an Australian botanist who has made an outstanding contribution to knowledge of the systematics, phylogeny and ecology of the world's waterplants, grasses and chenopods.

Karen Wilson               Brett Summerell
Special Botanist          Director SPP

National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW)
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