Walter Reginald Brook Oliver

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Walter Reginald Brook Oliver (born September 7, 1883 in Launceston , Tasmania , † May 16, 1957 in Wellington , New Zealand ) was a New Zealand botanist and ornithologist. Its botanical author abbreviation is “ WRBOliv. "

biography

At the age of 13, Walter Oliver emigrated with his parents to Tauranga in New Zealand. Between 1900 and 1914 he worked as an official at the New Zealand Customs Service. This post enabled him to undertake expeditions to the Kermadec Islands , the Chatham Islands , Stewart Island and Lord Howe Island and to collect important geological, botanical and ornithological data. In 1914 he was drafted into the First World War and served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in France. In 1919 he undertook his first botanical expedition to Tahiti. Between 1920 and 1927 he worked as a research assistant at what was then the Dominion Museum in Wellington. Between 1924 and 1927 he studied at Victoria University of Wellington and earned a Bachelor of Science degree . In 1927 he became a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand . In 1928 he took over the position of director of the Dominion Museum, which he held until 1947.

In 1930 his book New Zealand Birds appeared , which is one of the most important standard works on the New Zealand avifauna. In 1934 he received his doctorate from the University of New Zealand . In 1939 he became a member of the British Ornithologists' Union . Between 1943 and 1944 he was President of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union . From 1943 to 1944 he was President of the Royal Society of New Zealand. In 1956 he undertook a last private expedition to the Norfolk Island .

Works (selection)

  • 1923: Marine Littoral Plant and Animal Communities in New Zealand .
  • 1924: Report of the Sixteenth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. Wellington Meeting, January 1923 .
  • 1928: The Flora of the Waipaoa Series (Later Pliocene) of New Zealand
  • 1930: New Zealand Birds (reprinted 1955 and 1974).
  • 1935: The genus Coprosma
  • 1948: Nature Study: Plants and Animals of New Zealand
  • 1949: The Moas of New Zealand and Australia .
  • 1951: Botanical Discovery in New Zealand .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Oliver, Walter Reginald Brook
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand botanist and ornithologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Launceston , Tasmania
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1957
Place of death Wellington , New Zealand