Chappill, Jennifer Anne (Jenny)   (1959 - 2006)

Born 1959, died in Perth, WA, 8 August 2006

Jenny trained with Pauline Ladiges at the University of Melbourne, Australia, before undertaking a post-Doc at Harvard and multiple visits to Kew and other herbaria.

Such experience placed her in a good light to secure her position at the University of Western Australia in 1990.

Her subsequent studies on the systematics of the legumes involved the analysis of over 300 plant features ranging from gross morphology, through anatomy, genetics, to the molecular. She formed important collaborations with Mike Crisp from the Australian National University and Bruce Maslin at the Western Australian Herbarium (PERTH), and employed a number of research assistants including Carol Wilkins, Diana Corbyn, Teresa Lebel, Ainsley Calladine, Juliet Wege and Kelly Shepherd.

When Professor Brian Grieve passed away in 1997, Jenny took on the task of revising the multivolume taxonomic guide How to Know Western Australian Wildflowers. With the assistance of botanist and botanical artist Lorraine Cobb, she developed working keys for the families and genera in the Monocotyledon volume. Sadly, a lack of funding prevented this work from being completed.

Before her death from cancer, Jenny was still working on the systematics of legumes, specially the Australian genus Jacksonia. She taught at both undergrad and postgrad level at the University of Western Australia, supervising a series of PhD students working on groups that included Malvaceae, Proteaceae, Stylidiaceae & Ericaceae.

Source: Kristina Lemson (Edith Cowan University), message posted to Taxacom e-mail list, 11/8/2006;
R.Butcher, J.Wege, K.Shepherd (2006) ASBS Newsletter No.129, Dec 2006
Portrait Photo: 2006 Kelly Shepherd (from above).

Collecting localities for 'Chappill, J.A.' from AVH (2021)

Data from 1,976 specimens