Croft, Jim R. (1951 - )

Born in Victoria, Australia, 1951.

Spent infancy in Melbourne, followed by childhood in Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby), South Australia (Adelaide), Fiji (Suva), New Caledonia (Noumea). Spent his later secondary school years at boarding school in Sydney, New South Wales.

Graduated in botany and zoologogy at the University of Sydney specialising in biological systematics and ecology. Almost immediately offered first full-time job in 1973 as a botanist with the Papua New Guinea Department of Forests at the PNG National Herbarium and Botanic Gardens in Lae. As a two year contract was renewed, and renewed, and renewed, PNG achieved self government and independence, and he moved through the ranks to become Director of the botanic gardens and herbarium, specialising in ferns, and spending 15 years "doing botanical field work and botanical exploration in one of the most biological exciting places on earth". During this time he married and had two sons.

In 1988 was offered a position as Curator of the Herbarium at the Australian National Botanic Gardens and the family moved to Canberra. Became Director of the Botany Section of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, now part of Environment Australia and then Deputy Director of the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research. Now Director responsible for botanic information at the Australian National Botanic Gardens and program leader for Botanical Information and Network Services at the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research and the Australian National Herbarium.

Author of the fern family Cystodiaceae J.R.Croft

Source: personal web site

Map of collecting locations for Jim Croft: