EVENT: UWA Albany Public Lecture

Prof. Hopper will consider the evolutionary history and conservation prospects of the State's flora, with special focus on the globally renowned Southwest Australian Floristic Region, one of the world's 25 biodiversity Hotspots. This rich flora on old landscape is threatened due to European land-use practices. Without a significant change towards mainstream caring for Country, a substantial fraction of the flora remains at risk of extinction.

Stephen Hopper AC is a plant conservation biologist, best known for pioneering research leading to positive conservation outcomes in south-west Australia and for the collaborative description of 300 new plant taxa (eucalypts, orchids, and the kangaroo paw family Haemodoraceae). Winthrop Professor Hopper is a former Director of Kings Park and Botanic Garden and was Chief Executive Officer of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority from 1999-2004. As Foundation Professor of Plant Conservation Biology at The University of Western Australia from 2004-2006, he developed new theory on the evolution and conservation of biodiversity on the world’s oldest landscapes, and led the establishment of new degrees in conservation biology. Professor Hopper is currently Winthrop Professor of Biodiversity and is based in Albany at UWA's Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, with a joint appointment at the School of Plant Biology.