Brooker, Michael George   (fl.1960s - 2000s)

Born . . .

For over thirty years [in 2005] Michael and Lesley Brooker have been contributing to the Australian ornithological literature. For much of their working lives they were employed by CSIRO's Division of Wildlife Research (later Sustainable Ecosystems).

In the late 1960s, Michael studied the Wedge-tailed Eagle, then of concern to the sheep industry.

Michael moved to Canberra in 1974, where he was mostly involved in fauna surveys.

Returning to Perth in 1984, he continued survey work, looked into the impacts of wildfire on birds and other animals, and studied the conservation value of remnant patches of native vegetation.

As well as through their many published papers, they have contributed to Australian ornithological publication in other ways. Michael was an assistant editor of the Emu (1990-2000) and, from 2001-2003, Lesley served on the Emu Advisory Committee. Much of their bird work has been carried out privately.

In 2004 he was awarded, jointly with his wife Lesley, the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union's 'D.L. Serventy Medal' which recognizes excellence in published work on birds in the Australasian region.

PLANT COLLECTIONS

Brooker's plant collections were primarily made in support of fauna research undertaken for CSIRO.Unfortunately, it is easy to confuse his plant collections with those of eucalypt specialist Ian Brooker (initials M.G. vs M.I.H.), and M.G. Brooker doesn't always use his middle initial on labels. It is often very difficult to separate the two from herbarium labels or in AVH, but Michael Brooker's collections would usually lack collecting numbers (nearly all of Ian Brooker's will have them).

Source: Extracted from:
Penny Olsen, (2005) 'D.L. Serventy Medal 2005: Citation', Emu, No.105, p.341, CSIRO Publishing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brooker
Pers. com. Brendan Lepschi (2024)
Portrait Photo: Emu, No.105, p.341 (2005)

Collecting localities for 'Brooker, M.G'. + 'Brooker, M.' from AVH (2024)

Data from 462 specimens with his full initials and only 'M.'