Field Naturalists Club of Victoria
The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) is an Australian natural history and conservation organisation. [1]
It was founded in May 1880 by a group of nature enthusiasts that included Thomas Pennington Lucas.[2] Charles French and Dudley Best.[3] It is the oldest conservation group in [Australia]. Since 1884 it has published a journal, The Victorian Naturalist, which is issued six times a year.
Currently there are eight special interest groups (SIGs) within the FNCV, these are Botany, Fauna Survey, Fungi, Geology, Juniors, Marine Research, Microscopy and Terrestrial Invertebrates. The club also has a Day Group.
The FNCV is situated at 1 Gardenia St, Blackburn, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. A range of services are available for members including a bookshop.
Since 1940 the FNCV has awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion to the person judged to have made the most meritorious contribution to the understanding of Australian Natural History.[4]
Presidents
Past presidents include:
- Frank Dobson (1884)[5]
- Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas (1887–1889)[2]
- Walter Baldwin Spencer (1891–1893)
- Thomas Sergeant Hall (1901–1903)
- Francis George Allman Barnard (1905–1907)[3]
- George Arthur Keartland (1907–1909)
- Edward Edgar Pescott (1926–1928)
- Charles Barrett (1930–1931)
- Stanley Robert Mitchell (1936–1937)
- Philip Crosbie Morrison (1941–1943)
- Ina Watson (First female President) (1947–1948)
Regional groups
The FNCV has informal links to a number of regional field naturalist groups across Victoria, including:
- Ballarat Field Naturalists Club
- Bendigo Field Naturalists Club
- Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club
- Portland Field Naturalists Club
- Geelong Field Naturalists Club
- Maryborough Field Naturalists Club
References
- Encyclopedia of Australian Science - Corporate entry, Field Naturalist Club of Victoria
- Sophie C. Ducker, 'Lucas, Arthur Henry Shakespeare (1853 - 1936)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 163-164. Retrieved 2009-09-19
- Gary Presland (2016) Understanding our natural world: the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria 1880-2015. Melbourne: Field Naturalists Club of Victoria
- Sheila Houghton (1987) The Australian Natural History Medallion Melbourne: Field Naturalists Club of Victoria
- Barrow, Elizabeth. "Dobson, Frank Stanley (1835–1895)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 20 October 2012 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.