Sinclair, Russell (Russ)   (1941 - 2023)

Russ did not start his academic career as an ecologist or even a botanist, but as a physicist.

He obtained an Honours degree in Physics in 1964 from the University of Sydney.

His career then took a turn when he arrived at The University of Adelaide and started a PhD project investigating heat balance of plant leaves.

After completing his PhD thesis in 1967, Russ took a position as Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Malaya, in Kuala Lumpur.

On his return to Adelaide Russ was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Botany, The University of Adelaide, where he continued for the rest of his career.

He was responsible for the teaching of various aspects of botany and in particular ecophysiology of plants - the relationship between the environment and the functioning of individual plants.

The practical work of his Ecophysiology of Plants course included a field camp to Koonamore Vegetation Reserve (KVR) based around the outstation Bindyi, adjacent to the Reserve. KVR is located in the South Australian North East pastoral region, and the students worked outside the Reserve in vegetation nearby.

The Ecophysiology camps were an encouragement for Russ to delve into the complexities affecting survival of arid zone vegetation. The popular camps garnered enthusiasm for the site capturing prolonged interest from students and staff alike, endearing long-lasting connections with KVR. Indeed, as mentioned above, Russ took charge of the site when Connie Eardley retired and was very much the sole driver of the KVR project for nearly 50 years.

As a credit to Russell's dedication to the Project, he was not interested in the data collected for his own career aspirations, rather his motivation was a generous knowledge of the broad importance of long-term ecological data. His contagious passion for the conservation and management of arid lands did not fail to inspire generations of future rangelands and conservation professionals.

Outside the University Russ was a dedicated conservationist, particularly in his involvement with Trees for Life and as the manager for the SA National Trust Engelbrook Reserve in the Adelaide Hills where he lived.

Source: Extracted from:
Jose Facelli and David Ladd (2024) - 'VALE RUSSELL SINCLAIR: 23 JANUARY 1941 - 9 JULY 2023'
https://www.austrangesoc.com.au/news/vale-russell-sinclair-23-january-1941-9-july-2023/
Portrait Photo: Obituary above.

Collecting localities for 'Sinclair, R.' from AVH (2025)

Data from 122 specimens