Western Australia
September 4, 2014
Department of Agriculture and Food research officer Rod Randall has been recognised for his work in weeds research, awarded the Medal for Leadership by the Council of Australasian Weed Societies.
Department Agricultural Resource Risk Management executive director John Ruprecht congratulated Rod on his award, which was presented to him at the Council of Australasian Weed Societies conference in Hobart yesterday.
“Rod was nominated by the Weeds Society of WA for his work in weeds research over the past 20 years,” Mr Ruprecht said.
“Western Australia was the first place in the world to adopt a permitted system for plant introductions, as opposed to the prohibited lists that had been used previously around the world.
“Rod was the primary developer of the permitted list, which is administered through the department.
“He developed the list in 1997 and to present day, Rod has stored information about more than 36,500 invasive plants and other plants from around the world to create an extensive database.
“Rod has also used the database information to produce the Global Compendium of Weeds, first published in hard copy in 2002 and republished online in 2012.
“The compendium is one of the most comprehensive weed reference guides used world-wide.”
Many of his photographs have also been used in the publication Western Weeds.
Mr Ruprecht said in his position as a weed regulatory specialist with the department, Rod had also contributed significantly to weed science and weed management through his work in assessing new plant species that pose a threat to Australia’s managed and natural resources.
“Rod is a recognised authority in Western Australia, Australian and international weed science community as a ‘go to’ person for information on weed occurrences and plant species world-wide,” he said.
Topics
Species
