Terence 'Terry' Phillip O'Brien (12 January 1937 – 4 July 2016) was an Australian botanist who was an expert in the development of wheat, and who was an early pioneer of Australian eco-tourism.
Terence O'Brien | |
|---|---|
| Terence Phillip O'Brien | |
| Born | 12 January 1937[1] |
| Died | 4 July 2016 (aged 79)[2] |
Life edit
O'Brien completed a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Science and a Master of Science from the University of Melbourne in 1962.[3] He studied at Harvard University, and was the first Australian appointed to the Harvard Society of Fellows as a junior fellow between 1964 and 1967, and completed a PhD.[1][4]
After returning to Australia was employed as a senior lecturer at Monash University between 1967 and 1970.[1] In 1970 he was appointed as a Reader in Botany at the same university, and established an electron microscope at the University, and the Plant Cell Biology Laboratory.[1][2][5] He received a Doctor of Science from Monash University in 1978, for his contributions to understanding the physiological anatomy of plant cells and tissues.[6] From July 1986 to June 1987, O'Brien was elected president of the Royal Society of Victoria.[7] He also was a chartered biologist of the Royal Society of Biology, and a member of the Australian Institute of Biology.[1]
After assisting the university to introduce Australia's first postgraduate degree in tourism studies in 1989, O'Brien resigned from Monash University to found an eco-tourism company himself.[2][8] He eventually moved back to his alma mater of Harvard University before retiring.[2]
Botanical legacy edit
O'Brien specialised in the study of the development and structure of wheat, and plant morphology more broadly.[5] Publications he contributed to include:
- TP O'Brien and ME McCully. 1969. Plant structure and development: a pictorial and physiological approach. (New York: Macmillan.)
- SY Zee and TP O'Brien. 1970. "A Special Type of Tracheary Element Associated with "Xylem Discontinuity" in the Floral Axis of Wheat." Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 23(4) 783 - 792.
- JG Swift and TP O'Brien. 1970. "Vascularization of the scutellum of wheat." Australian Journal of Botany 18(1) 45 - 53.
- JG Swift and TP O'Brien. 1971. "Vascular differentiation in the wheat embryo." Australian Journal of Botany 19(1) 63 - 71.
- TP O'Brien, RL Clark, and PF Lumley. 1972. Manual of techniques in plant histology. (Clayton, Vic.: Monash University. Botany Department.)
- TP O'Brien and J Kuo. 1975. "Development of the Suberized Lamella in the Mestome Sheath of Wheat Leaves." Australian Journal of Botany 23(5) 783 - 794.
- S Craig and TP O'Brien. 1975. "The Lodicules of Wheat: Pre- and Post-Anthesis." Australian Journal of Botany 23(3) 451 - 458.
- CH Busby and TP O'Brien. 1979. "Aspects of Vascular Anatomy and Differentiation of Vascular Tissues and Transfer Cells in Vegetative Nodes of Wheat." Australian Journal of Botany 27(6) 703 - 711.
- TP O'Brien and ME McCully. 1981. The study of plant structure: principles and selected methods. (Melbourne: Termarcarphi.)
- TP O'Brien. 1986. Plants, insects and fire in the Big Desert. [videorecording]. (Clayton, Vic.: Educational Technology Section, Monash University.)
Specimens collected by O'Brien during his career at Monash University are now cared for by the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.[9]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, and Australian National Herbarium (14 July 2014). "O'Brien, Terence Phillip (1937 - )". Biographical notes on plant collectors and illustrators or others relevant to Australian botany. Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Terence Phillip O'BRIEN (1937 - 2016)". University Archives. Monash University. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ University of Melbourne Calendar 1963. Melbourne: The University of Melbourne. 1963. p. 640.
- ^ "Current & Former Junior Fellows". Society of Fellows. Harvard University. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ a b "Comment to: Uwe Proske asks: How Important are Practical Outcomes in Research?". The Funneled Web. University of Haifa Department of Mathematics. 3 April 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ T.P. O'Brien (1978). "Physiological anatomy of plant cells and tissues: collected works, 1961-1975". Worldcat. Monash University Department of Botany. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ "Presidents of the Royal Society of Victoria". Royal Society of Victoria. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ Grant, Roger; O'Brien, Terry (October 12–14, 1992). "Ecotourism-educational travel: A growth business, the Victorian experience.". Ecotourism business in the Pacific : promoting a sustainable experience : conference proceedings. Ecotourism Conference. Auckland, New Zealand: East-West Center. pp. 71–74.
- ^ "Occurrence records". Australasian Virtual Herbarium. Retrieved 10 April 2024.