Ulyatt, Lois Inez   (1948 - )

Born in 1948 at Tennant Creek, NT;

Her early education via 'School of the Air' is featured in an article in The Herald (Melbourne newspaper) 22 July 1953, 'Their school is 400 miles away', and now able to be viewed on TROVE.

She moved to Alice Springs with her parents when they retired in 1963 after her eldest sister and her husband took over the operation of the family cattle property.

Her first job in 1966 was as a clerical assistant in the Animal Industry Branch (pre-NT self- government).

In 1971 her adventurous spirit took her overseas for 18 months and on returning, she applied for a Technical Assistant position in the Herbarium of the Northern Territory at the Arid Zone Research Institute and started in 1973.

Her work there included mounting specimens, data entry of collection for Flora of Central Australia, organising loans of herbarium specimens for botanical specialists at other Australian and international herbaria, collecting phenology data for 'Flowering and fruiting of arid zone species of Acacia in central Australia', germination and seedling growth trials, field trips for NT Herbarium, field trips with the Animal Nutrition Unit collecting plant material for nutritional analysis.

She also contributed line drawings for:
'The fodder trees and shrubs of the Northern Territory' K. Askew and A.S. Mitchell.
'The Genus Pseudonaja in the NT' M.W. Gillam (herpetologist at AZRI)

When the Herbarium was taken over by the (then) Conservation Commission, she transferred to the Rangelands Section for a short time and contributed to the compilation of the Central Australian Range Herbaria which were later distributed to pastoralists in the Alice Springs District.

Later in 1981 she transferred to Tennant Creek to provide admin. assistance during the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign.

In 1988 she relocated to Darwin to take up a position at the Berrimah Research Farm as a TA with Animal Production working with buffaloes, and in 1989 she applied for a position with the Plant Pathology Unit where she functioned as the lab manager and technical officer involved in curation of the PP herbarium and recording of accessions, cropping disease surveys, biosecurity surveys (e.g. Citrus Canker & Banana TR4) with the plant pathology group, diagnostic investigations and research into such matters as mango scab, watermelon Fusarium wilt, bacterial wilt and Rosewood Fusarium wilt.

She was also involved in the production of the 'Pests, Beneficials, Diseases and Disorders of Mangoes' December 2010, and the 'Field Guide to Pests, Beneficials, Diseases and Disorders of Vegetables in northern Australia' November 2014.

She retired in 2017.

Source: Extracted from:
The Herald (Melbourne) Wed 22 July 1953, Page 13, 'Their school is 400 miles away'.
Pers. Comm. Lois Ulyatt (2024)
Portrait Photo: 1978, at Herbarium of NT, by George Chippendale.

Collecting localities for 'Ulyatt, L.' from AVH (2024)

Data from 58 specimens